FEATURE
Turning Covid into a positive
Sea change
From humble beginnings and river trips for schoolchildren , High Tide quickly gathered pace , attracting several businesses to help offer career cadetships – five-day programmes that allowed youngsters to track the journey of an everyday object they could relate to – as well as other workplacebased programmes .
“ The cadetships would start on a Monday and a group of students would visit a number of companies involved in the journey of a car , for example ,” said Mark .
“ They would then follow the supply chain , including businesses such as AV Dawson , Nissan , Nifco and Simon Bailes , throughout the week , encompassing importing , logistics and distribution , ending on a Friday with retail .
“ Over the past eight years , thousands of our region ’ s youngsters had their eyes opened to career possibilities they may never have dreamed of , with many going forward to attend a more formal programme . Some even went on overnight trips to Rotterdam to see how their port compares to ours – a life-changing experience for some who had never been out of the TS postcode .”
When Covid struck , High Tide , like so many others , had to pivot quickly .
“ One of the challenges we ’ ve always had when it comes to scale is the practicality of staging some of our physical programmes ,” said Mark .
“ It can be costly to ferry students around the Tees Valley , numbers had to be limited and some businesses couldn ’ t get involved due to space , resources , health and safety or even data protection issues .
“ Covid , in a strange way , offered a massive opportunity and accelerated our plans for a digital transformation of our programmes . Collaborating with Speakers For Schools we built a new virtual work experience model , still based around live engagements with businesses , delivered virtually through a secure Google Classroom environment .
“ We knew our type of content and the programmes we already had could be combined , redesigned and recreated into bitesize inspiration days through to more immersive sectorfocused three-day work experience models . We now have a suite of virtual programmes which we piloted early this year and which are now running for schools in the region .”
The programmes give students the chance to engage directly with employers , increase understanding of career opportunities , improve skills and raise aspirations .
The new virtual work experience ( VWEX ) programmes are inspiring , live and interactive placements , directly connecting young people with employers , opening the door to career opportunities and providing a glimpse into a diverse range of businesses across the Tees Valley .
Virtual programmes , of course , have no limit on numbers , with an estimated 4,000 youngsters due to log on this year alone . In addition , an online learning hub on the website allows youngsters from around the country to watch career videos or look at career resources .
“ Our virtual programmes will be a fundamental part of our programmes offer going forward and will be looked after by Lauren Bywater , our general manager , and Owain Brennan , our programme coordinator ,” said Mark .
“ We do want to bring the physical programmes back to run alongside , however . From massive sheds full of world-leading engineers through to cutting-edge design studios brimming with local creative talent , there ’ s nothing better than a bunch of young people actually going into a workplace .
“ They meet the people behind the business , see what industry looks like , sense the culture and get a real-life feel for the world of work , so it ’ s super critical that we ensure it happens as soon as possible .”
Corporate partners
Join us - High Tide ' s trustees are reaching out to more local firms .
Can your business help High Tide ?
Those who support High Tide see a real value in being involved .
“ From a business and personal perspective , it ’ s very rewarding as part of their CSR or personal development ,” said Mark .
“ There ’ s no formal sign up and we work with companies of all sizes . With our virtual programmes , it ’ s never been easier to get involved . We would just love to hear from you and see how you can support our programmes and join us in inspiring the region ’ s young people .”
Contact : lauren @ hightidefoundation . co . uk
“ Our fantastic corporate partners donate money each year to contribute towards the core funding and running costs of High Tide .”
Hightidefoundation . co . uk
The voice of business in the Tees region | 43