Earlier this summer staff members at JM Finn volunteered their time with the charity Future Frontiers. Future Frontiers exists to deliver career coaching to young people from disadvantaged backgrounds, where they would normally miss out on the opportunity to engage with professionals. Our volunteers worked 1:1 with 15 and 16 year old girls from Prendergast School in Lewisham, looking at their options post GCSE’s, either for college, apprenticeship, A-levels or employment.
JM Finn coaches worked with the students to discover and explore their interested career in detail, the coaches then connected the students with a professional in their chosen field, so they could increase their knowledge and become inspired about reaching their career goals.
The feedback from our volunteer coaches was that they enjoyed and benefitted from the experience during what was a difficult time, with many students dealing with Covid disruptions at school. The student feedback suggests our coaches had a real impact on the students’ mindsets and thinking about the careers options open to them. With many schools closing early for summer due to Covid, some coaches didn’t get to finish the final session with their mentees, but the likelihood of their students progressing in education or training increased due to the coaching experience.
