The event was funded by L&Q, who, together with Countryside, are the developers at Beaulieu, and delivered by Worktree, a charity which helps young people with careers guidance. Well-known names including Santander, Volkswagen, Ipsos Mori, Network Rail, NHBC and L&Q took part.

347 students took part in twelve sessions throughout the day, meeting with 51 guests from 32 companies. The sessions offer schools Ofsted ready reports that help meet Gatsby benchmarks which aim to give schools a clear framework for organising career provision.

Lauren Vint, a science teacher at the school said "The sessions provided were fantastic! There was a great variety of guest speakers and the students enjoyed being able to ask questions. The whole experience was hugely valuable in the lead up to thinking about their future education and career path."

Kat Knoller, Development Manager for Beaulieu volunteered on one of the sessions and said “It gave me a great opportunity to connect with year 8 pupils and share my knowledge and experience of both the workplace and the housing sector. The session was excellently facilitated by Worktree which allowed for a really engaging session with the students’ who asked lots of questions about careers and further education.”

The Beaulieu Park School is Essex’s first ‘All Through School’, which opened for reception students in September 2018 and Secondary students in September 2019. The school was delivered as part of L&Q and Countryside’s landmark Beaulieu development, which is delivering up to 3,600 new homes for Chelmsford.

The event was supported by the L&Q’s Place Maker Counties fund, which offers grants to community projects in areas where the housing association is either building or managing homes.

Corrine Hutcheson, Head of Placemaking at L&Q said, “We were delighted to introduce Worktree and some fantastic firms to the talented students at Beaulieu Park School.

“We’re passionate about creating opportunity and aspiration. Our award-winning Learning to Succeed programme is already seeing us work with schools and colleges promoting careers in construction. It’s so important that young people engage with employers early on, and we hope to have sparked some inspiration."

Worktree’s sessions take around one hour each, with no preparation time needed for volunteers. Further sessions will be held in the New Year in areas such as Warwick, Cambridge, and Milton Keynes and if you are interested in finding out more, please contact Sharon Boot at countiescommunity@lqgroup.org.uk