Thousands benefit from business and skills events at North Wales college

Up to 9,000 school pupils, university students and members of the community benefited from business mentoring sessions and a range of employability and skills events at Coleg Cambria.

In the last 12 months alone, the college’s Learner Experience team delivered more than 170 workshops, talks and seminars across its sites in Deeside, Wrexham, Llysfasi and Northop.

With the support of Welsh Government funding, activities were presented by leading organisations from across the country, including Big Ideas Wales.

Cambria’s Enterprise and Entrepreneurship Coordinator Judith Alexander said there is even more planned for the next academic year, including a series of inclusive celebrations.

“We have crammed so much into this year, it’s been incredible, and we are very thankful to everyone who attended our events and gave their time,” she added.

“The team has focused on delivering as many sessions as possible that will be of value to our community and learners, especially given this is such a challenging time for so many.

“We hosted a Money Matters tour across all the Cambria sites, promoted entrepreneurship and business ideas, held Freshers and Re-Freshers fairs and the recent Cambria Fest was a huge success.

“There was also an enrichment day on Northop campus – attended by 85 students – and during landmark points of the calendar, such as Mental Health Awareness Week, Christmas Markets and Global Enterprise Week, we had a massive response to our activities, which are designed to support learners on their academic journey while preparing them for day-to-day life post-college.”

Judith revealed the 2022/23 programme helped bring people together and promoted kindness and unity, as well as encouraging young people to consider their future careers.

Among the inspiring Big Ideas Wales role models to visit the college were Giggles and Games founder Alice Murray, Hoola Nation supremo Sasha Kenney, coach Marina Kogan, and Mark Williams, the driving force behind award-winning design and manufacturing prosthetics company, Limb-Art.

“A lot of the events raised money for charity and promoted mindfulness, wellbeing, and positivity, said Judith.

“An example of that was Money Matters and part of that was a swap shop where students brought clothes to exchange and donate, and we had a taste test experiment identifying alternative, more affordable food and drink products.

“These were well attended, and we were able to have an important conversation about the things we waste, the things we need and the impact of the cost-of-living crisis.

“It has been a whirlwind year but incredibly rewarding and proactive, and there is more to come as we work even harder to develop entrepreneurial and enterprising opportunities for our learners and the local community.”