Member Article

‘Light bulb Moment’ for Chamber at Christleton High School

West Cheshire and North Wales Chamber of Commerce (WCNW) has selected local Christleton High School in Chester to host an outdoor art installation to help celebrate the first birthday of its innovative Young Chamber programme.

The local Young Chamber’s logo was designed by Christleton High School student, Sam Dobson, and features a light bulb which inspired the Chester school’s outdoor #lightbulbmoment art installation, featuring individually decorated plastic light bulbs, designed by the students, hanging from a tree in the school’s grounds. Each light bulb features words written by the students, highlighting how the Chamber has individually inspired them.

The WCNW Young Chamber launched last year following its survey, which revealed that 88% of local employers didn’t believe school leavers were ‘work ready’. Its sole purpose is to help bridge the gap between businesses and the education sector to help prepare students for the workplace.

Christleton High School was one of the first schools to participate in the Young Chamber initiative. Schoolchildren have taken part in a programme designed to introduce them to skills needed in the world of work, from mentoring, CV writing to mock interviews and enterprise schemes.

Young Chamber has received phenomenal support from the local business community, with over 80 sponsors secured over the past 12 months.

Local Young Chamber sponsors and Chamber representatives visited the school this week to officially celebrate the anniversary with children and teachers.

Debbie Bryce, Deputy CEO of West Cheshire and North Wales Chamber of Commerce, commented: “We are delighted that the school is joining us in celebrating our first birthday and Sam’s original logo design is now being brought to life with this wonderful light bulb moment installation.

“To see the Young Chamber grow so much in just 12 months – becoming one of the fastest growing Young Chamber initiatives in the UK is amazing and testament to the demand for this type of support.”

Lynsay Lawson, ICT & KS4 Co-ordinator at Christleton High School, added: “The Young Chamber programme has been a lifeline for our school, it has allowed us to expose our pupils to new challenges and situations which we would have struggled to do on our own. Sending positive and experienced role models to school to engage our students and motivate them to think about their future.”

WCNW Young Chamber is one of the first in the country to offer free memberships to schools and is one of the fastest growing Young Chamber networks in the UK, already providing business insight to over 950 students in the area.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Emily Kench .