Skills service for young people wins gold at international awards for second year running

The Skills Service, which covers Peterborough, Fenland, Rutland, King’s Lynn and West Norfolk, was praised for inspiring young people to choose science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subjects and to pursue careers in these areas.

The award is for the Mission Possible Week campaign, which was a week of STEM focused activities last July, which aimed to raise aspirations and showcase career options.

The service has won a Gold Global Best Award for Europe from the International education business Partnership Network (IPN) jointly with the Conference Board of Canada.

It celebrates outstanding partnerships between educational institutions, private businesses and others that enhance youth employability.

The Skills Service is delivered by Opportunity Peterborough (OP) and funded by the Greater Cambridge Greater Peterborough Enterprise Partnership (LEP).

Steve Bowyer, chief executive of OP, said: “It is an incredible achievement to win this award for a second time and gain recognition for our skills work on a global scale.”

Sue Addison, Skills Lead for OP, who will be presented with the award at a conference in Norway in September, said: “Mission Possible Week was an enormous success and we were delighted to have Amber Gell, a NASA scientist, with us to support the events.

She added: “Students couldn’t fail to be inspired by her talks about making a career in science.”

This year’s East of England Careers Show takes place on July 15 and more than 2,500 students from across the region are already booked to attend.

It will take place at the East of England Showground, in Peterborough.

Visitors will be able to seek inspiration for their futures from nearly 200 exhibitors, many with hands on skills activities and demonstrations, plus a seminar programme and CV bootcamp will run through the day.