- Arup offices across the UK host World of Work days to support The Prince's Trust.
- The days help young people develop their employ-ability skills.
- Groups learn about office work, engineering and complete a design challenge.
Arup offices across the UK – including those in Liverpool, Manchester and London – support The Prince’s Trust by hosting World of Work days.
These see groups of up to 12 young people who are unemployed, or struggling at school and at risk of exclusion, visiting our offices with staff from The Prince’s Trust to help develop skills that make them more employable.
The days are run by Arup staff volunteers and are often influenced by their current projects. This gives the young people real-life experience they can relate to.
The days typically start with an Arup office leader giving the young people a flavour of the firm’s work – talking to them about local projects they may know such as football stadiums. Then there’s a presentation with a chance to ask questions, followed by icebreaker games to help everyone get to know one another.
Part of the day that usually proves particularly popular with the young people is when our staff members talk about their own routes into Arup. Their different experiences show that not everyone takes a conventional approach into the world of work.
There’s also an overview of roles at Arup beyond engineering and design – covering everything from finance to human resources – followed by a tour of the office. In the afternoon, groups work together on a design challenge such as building marshmallow structures. This promotes teamwork, boosts confidence and develops problem-solving skills.
With the World of Work days popular with young people and Arup staff alike, we run them regularly around the UK.
World of Work days held in 2014 were (5 held previously across UK)
Liverpool Office - 28th October 2014
9 young people attended
Manchester Office – 21st November 2014
11 young people attended
The World of Work days give Arup staff the opportunity to give something back to the community in an easy, safe environment.
Jenny Hindmarsh
I enjoyed everything about the day – particularly building the tower. I learnt that a lot more work goes into building and engineering than I thought.
Participant at the Liverpool workshop