O2 working together with Slough Children’s Services Trust

Supporting young people has always been really important to us here at O₂, whether that’s in developing their early careers with us or through the work our youth programme, Go Think Big, does to help them get the experience and opportunities they need for the future.

We all know that young people have very different opportunities and challenges in life, which can depend on many things such as their background, education and upbringing. Slough Children’s Services Trust works with local children and young people, with the goal of making them safe, secure and successful.

When their Comms Manager, Kate Brewster, approached us to run some tailored career support for some of their care leavers, we were only too please to get involved. This wasn’t something that happened instantly – we invested time in the planning. I worked closely with Harry Sandhur, a team manager who works directly with the young people, to understand what needs they had and how they could benefit.

When the day came, it was a huge success – a well received afternoon of talks from various O₂ colleagues, coupled with some interactive sessions, with support form a couple of Trust staff too. The young people were amazing – so engaged, polite and enthusiastic with, I’m sure, the potential to go far.

My colleagues were really impressed too, with one telling me how he saw them grow in confidence during the sessions and another describing them as ‘a great, sparky bunch.’ They too got a lot out of this.

It was a genuine pleasure to show them our business and great to hear they too gave really positive feedback on the experience. So, all in all, a really positive piece of partnership working, which we hope to repeat next year. Good luck to all the young people who took part. We hope to see you again!

Elisabeth Rochford, Social Impact Manager at O₂

O₂ launched their youth programme almost a decade ago and since then have helped nearly 2m young people with skills and opportunities to launch their career. For more information on Go Think Big go to GoThinkBig.co.uk or check out the O₂ Early Careers Programme here.