InLeeds Day, an initiative that encourages students to stay in Leeds after their studies, takes place today across the city, supported by Northern Powerhouse Minister Jake Berry.
Initiated by students, InLeeds Day will see businesses host more than 100 students from the University of Leeds, Leeds Beckett University and Leeds Trinity University as part of a series of workplace visits with the aim of enhancing their employability skills and profiling the many graduate opportunities the city has to offer.
InLeeds Day is the brainchild of a team of University of Leeds students who visited New York in 2016 as part of a Leeds Alumni-funded project to find out how businesses were contributing to the city’s economy through use of technology.
Asked to pitch their ideas for driving the economy in Leeds, they came up with #INLEEDSDAY, now in its third year. Students Roland Maposa, Tarrio Joto and Sarah Cant brought the idea back to the University of Leeds’ Careers Service, which opened the experience up to students from other Leeds universities.
Roland Maposa, now in his final year of a Contemporary and Professional Studies BA at the University of Leeds, said: “The feedback we received after pitching our idea made it clear it resonated with the University’s careers staff, who have supported us to make this idea a reality.
“InLeeds Day is about retaining student talent to bring the change and solutions the city needs to meet its goal of becoming a global economic powerhouse.”
“InLeeds Days is about retaining student talent to bring the change and solutions the city needs to meet its goal of becoming a global economic powerhouse. It is fantastic to see how far our initiative has come.”
Businesses taking part include PwC, Leeds City Council, thebigword, DLA Piper, FDM Group, KPMG, aql, Sky, Sagar Wright, Opta, Pinsent Masons and NHS Digital. The events are co-funded by the universities, PwC and Leeds City Council, and are part of the FutureJobs programme, a service from aspire-igen, Leeds City Region LEP, the Education & Skills Funding Agency and the European Social Fund.
The students will also take part in a competition around the theme of Company culture and values in the Leeds City Region, creating their own ideas on how to attract and retain graduates in the region and then pitching them to industry professionals.
The competition will help them develop their networks, learn more about enterprise opportunities in the region and meet potential employers within a diverse range of industries.
Supporting universities and employers have enlisted the help of local social enterprise Ahead Partnership to deliver the event. The partnership brings employers and education partners together to create focused employability activities, and ran the event for 80 students in 2017.
Northern Powerhouse Minister Jake Berry said: “The Northern Powerhouse offers unrivalled career opportunities for graduates across a wide range of fields and different industries.
“InLeeds Day is a great way of promoting these fantastic offers from employers right on graduates’ doorsteps – from local SMEs and councils to national and international players based right here in the North.”
Will Richardson, Senior Partner at PwC in Leeds, said: "PwC are proud to be supporting and jointly hosting InLeeds Day 2018. As a leading professional services firm, we are committed to investing in the city and to supporting the development of students, local business and institutions across the region.
“This is an excellent opportunity for PwC to interact with students in the city, and showcase some of the excellent opportunities on offer to them both within PwC and in Leeds. We look forward to connecting with them and to enhancing our impact in the region."
National Student Volunteering Week
University of Leeds students are also taking part in activities as part of National Student Volunteering Week 2018.
Leeds University Union (LUU) has worked with the University on a programme of events [link] to encourage students to volunteer and to highlight existing opportunities.
The University has one of the biggest volunteering programmes in the country: 3,500 students volunteer each year across a wide range of charities and community groups, including 150 local charities.
The ‘Students into Schools’ scheme, for example, sees students undertake voluntary outreach and aspiration-raising activity in the region’s schools. Since the scheme started in 2000, students have given around 166 years’ worth of support. Some 400 students currently volunteer with this scheme.
There are a host of activities and issues that students can get involved in, from gardening in LUU’s roof top garden to helping to map an interactive sustainability map for the campus and providing students with the opportunity to help teach English to refugees and engage with someone who may be from a very different background.
Caitlin Harvey, a fourth year English and Spanish student at the University of Leeds volunteers with a charity that helps to highlight awareness of breast cancer.
“I volunteer with the Uni Boob Team because my family has been affected by breast cancer and I'm determined to prevent as many people as possible having to deal with the devastation it can cause.”
“I volunteer with the Uni Boob Team because my family has been affected by breast cancer and I'm determined to prevent as many people as possible having to deal with the devastation it can cause.
“We are trying to educate as many students across campus – that's guys, gals and non-binary pals – about the signs and symptoms of breast cancer and encourage them to check their boobs and pecs regularly.
“By having lots of fun and using light-hearted language we hope to normalise talking about these issues and make boob/pec checking part of students' routine.
“Representing CoppaFeel! UK, a charity founded by two sisters after one of them was was diagnosed with breast cancer at 23 years old, this year we have been spreading the boob love far and wide across campus, collaborating with other societies and hosting fundraiser events in attempt to get as many students as possible on the boob-checking wagon.”
#INLEEDSDAY2018
- Text UBTLEEDS to 70500 to receive FREE monthly breast check reminders.