The Central Coast Branch of Y NSW hosted its first ever Employment Now Expo on May 20, inviting schools across the northern suburbs to attend to help link students to potential career pathways.
The event was held at Gravity Youth Centre in Lake Haven and was organised in conjunction with Central Coast Council.
300 students attended the event.
Also in attendance were 60 information stalls run by local training and job services providers as well as support agencies, volunteering groups and employers from around the area, who all offered advice and industry insights.
“It was a really beautiful day; I’m really chuffed about how it turned out.
“13 schools came and we weren’t expecting that many schools to come… all buses led to Lake Haven apparently,” said Y NSW Central Coast’s Program Coordinator, Virginia Walshaw.
The event was held to tackle the high rates of youth unemployment in the Northern Suburbs where these rates are as high as 32 percent.
“We are a relatively new service, but we have been so lucky that we were able to receive funding from Central Coast Council to put the expo on, I think it has been such a positive experience.
“When I saw the students’ faces light up when they got to the expo it really made me feel that all the hard work that was put into organising the expo was well worth it.
“We’re really hoping that we can run the event again next year.
“The feedback we’ve had so far has been to do more expos, and we are currently in the process of getting more feedback to see how we can improve the expo for the future,” Walshaw said.
“It was fantastic, many people walked away with an understanding of what is on offer for them in the future.”
Harry Mulholland