Over the summer, MCR Pathways and the Council family piloted a brand new idea to help inspire young people about their future. A handful of mentors from across Glasgow City Council brought their mentees into their offices to give them a taste of working life. From City Building, to St Brigid’s Primary School and Land and Environmental Services, departments all over the city opened their doors to our young people.
Meeting Maureen McKenna
Stevie Scott, Head of Parks and Environment, gave his young person the grand tour of all the Council buildings. This was a really special occasion because, “it was the first time he had been to a workplace. He was delighted with his experience,” said Stevie.
After bumping into various staff in the CIty Chambers as part of his tour, his mentee added, “The best part was meeting Maureen McKenna – I couldn’t believe she’s the Manager of my Head Teacher at Lochend!”
Constructing his future
Keri Isdale, who works as an Economic Development Officer, knew her young person didn’t want to work in an office so she came up with another idea.
She said, “He seems to learn better by doing things, rather than by listening. So City Building seemed ideal for that and I arranged a half day for him to spend at the training centre.”
Keri’s young person had expressed an interest in construction, but didn’t know know much about it except that he didn’t want to be an electrician, “cause you might blow yourself up!” He ended up loving the joining session and has since changed some of his courses to focus on construction skills.
Putting the Pieces together
Jimmy Cheng, a Parks and Streetscene Work Planner, knew his mentee’s ambition was to become a video game developer. He brought him in for the day to, ‘‘gain a greater understanding of my role and how it fits in the overall process of public services.” And while his young person is still determined to design video games he still really enjoyed the day.
Summer School
Carole Scott, Head Teacher at St Brigid’s Primary, has been mentoring in different capacities for much of her career.
Her young person is “bright and seems very focused on her future career aspiration of becoming a teacher.”
Not only did her young person have a great time visiting St Brigid’s Primary, she was also lucky as she, “met another young person from a local secondary school who’s undertaking the Access to a Career in Teaching course – a course my young person was unaware of. So she learned about a new way to achieve her goal.”
#GiveAnHour
By providing young people with opportunities to experience different workplaces we can help get them thinking about their own career paths. Thank you to all our mentors who brought in their young people, and thank you to all our wonderful mentors who meet their young person, week after week. There are still another 750 young people in the city who need the support of their very own mentor. Can you get involved? Join us for one of our info sessions at the Mitchell to learn more.
