By Laurice Laird
College students mingled with potential employers over lunch at the Market House pub in Brixton today.
The Live Local Work Local event was organised by Emma-Louise Stewart, of Brixton BID, to give students from Lambeth College the opportunity to network with potential local employers in their field of expertise. Students were also given the opportunity to learn more about the potential opportunities that were available and the means of accessing them.
Ian Birthwright, Job Centre Plus, said: “I think it’s very important that the Job Centre Plus is at the heart of the continuing development of Brixton and Lambeth, especially when it comes to preparing people in moving into work which we are doing very well in partnership with Lambeth College.
We got 300 jobs recently with TNT, worked with people from Waitrose. We’re trying to prepare more and more people from the college because we have a very good relationship with them now.”
One of Brixton BID’s main focus in helping to develop Brixton, is targeted around employment. They work with businesses to better employment through business to business networking, which in turn helps the money to stay within Brixton.
Mark Silverman, Principal and Chief Executive, Lambeth College, said: “Lambeth recently rebranded itself as London’s first careers college, and this is about helping local people to find pathways into future careers via university, apprenticeships or even self employment.
“This September we will be launching new career routes including hospitality and catering, hair and beauty and motoring alongside others. We’ve got an excellent relationship with the Job Centre, and Lambeth careers college can help people in Brixton and across Lambeth get the best employment opportunities.”
Among other speakers at the event was Jackie Meldrum, Deputy Leader, Lambeth Council who was keen to advertise the Council’s launch of their new Services and Support for Business brochure which contains a section regarding apprenticeships. In this age of booming social media, she urged young people to “keep networking”.
