STUDENTS from Whitehaven Academy successfully pitched an exciting internet café idea to a Dragon’s Den style board on Friday (December 13).
The ten pupils came up with the idea through their week-long work experience project designed by Well Whitehaven.
The Well Whitehaven initiative is designed to improve the health and wellbeing of those living in the Mirehouse and Corkickle communities.
To experience the world of work, students visited organisations including Copeland Borough Council, KAEFER, Morgan Sindall Infrastructure, KBR, Smurfitt Kappa, Xtreme Fitness, Network Rail, Petersons, Mawsons, Inspira, Orano, Cumbria Police, Cumbria County Council, West Cumbria Mining, One Aim, Univesity of Central Lancashire (UCLan) and Sellafield Ltd.
The students have undergone a range of activities during the week covering career development, social impact, project management and team building.
The group gained first-hand experience of different working environments through visits to the local archive centre where they researched the history of Mirehouse, and a trip to Smurfitt Kappa which included a factory floor tour. They also conducted a survey in Mirehouse asking local residents their thoughts on the community.
For the final part of the week, the students successfully created and submitted a project idea to the Well Whitehaven Steering Group, comprised of local business representatives. The students were awarded an agreement in principle to support the development of ‘Net Café,’ an internet café in the Mirehouse community. The project will be guided over the next 12 months by Emma Williamson, Well Whitehaven Officer, who said: “The students worked incredibly hard during a jam-packed week of activity.
“They gained first-hand experience of the workplace and got to meet people in a range of roles across different sectors.
“I was blown away by the creativity and thoughtfulness of the students, who put their all into everything we did.
“I’d like to thank the businesses that gave up their time to show the students their profession and to those who took part, they are a real credit to Whitehaven Academy.”
Tia McCourt, age 14, said: “You don’t have to aim for the top to achieve successes.”
Lauren Percival, age 14, said: “It has been a pleasure do this work experience, I have learned so much.”
