Experience Exchange: April 2023
On Saturday 22nd April we held our first of two Experience Exchange Workshops of 2023.
Experience Exchange is a one-day workshop aimed at young people (Year 11+) to support and prepare them for their transitions into further education and into employment. These can be challenging but exciting years, a time which is rich in opportunity.
We had 8 young people attend the workshop along with over 15 volunteers from the congregation who were giving their time either as mentors or delivering sessions.
We began with doughnuts and some time to chat and get to know each other.
The first session was led by Fiona Hollow and was all about employability and confidence. It was full of interactive tasks to help the young people think creatively, identify their strengths, skills and passions as well as their achievements and accomplishments.
Ann-Marie Nye led the second session which helped the young people think about job applications and interview skills. They looked at examples of CV’s and covering letters as well as doing some role-play to practise their interview technique.
During the lunch break all of the young people were given the opportunity to meet with their mentor for the first time and get to know them. Mentoring sessions will then take place over the following two months where discussions can include anything from setting goals for the future to learning a new life skill. Mentors are all volunteers from the church and where possible we will match a young person with a mentor who works in an area they might be interested in pursuing. It was wonderful seeing all the mentors and young people chatting over lunch, there was a great atmosphere of support and curiosity to learn more about each other.
After lunch we were led in a session on Navigating Difference from Rob Adediran. There was discussion about the things that make us different from one another, how we can only learn a little about someone from what we see on the outside and thinking about how our differences can actually be our super powers!
Our final session was led by Stephen Millar and was all about budgeting our money. Stephen leads the CAP (Christians Against Poverty) Money Course and got the young people thinking about whether they are a spender or a saver and gave them some practical tools for managing their finances both now and in the future.
We hope that all the young people who attended found the workshop helpful and that they feel more prepared for all that lies ahead.
We will be holding another Experience Exchange Workshop on Saturday 8th July 10.30am – 4pm if you, or a young person you know, are interested in coming along please click here for more information and to sign up:
