SWINDON SOCIAL ENTERPRISE PROJECT OFFERS A BRIGHTER FUTURE FOR YOUNG PEOPLE

Two teenagers from Swindon are celebrating being offered their dream jobs thanks to The Platform Project’s internship scheme.

Charlotte Hinds (18) is now working in the hospitality sector for PGL in South Cerney and Daniella Page, also 18, is employed at First City Nursing Services in Swindon.

The Platform Project, based in the Dorcan area of Swindon, is a social enterprise that helps young people aged 17-24 find employment by helping them develop skills such as IT, administration, marketing, sales and videography in a youth led ‘training workplace’. 

The interns work on a number of industry standard projects spanning experiences such as online publishing, project management and self-employment to help them build up their CV with meaningful experiences and figure out what they want from their early-stage careers. The work experience internships have been designed to accelerate a young person’s progression into their next steps after finishing education, and have supported over 100 young people this past year alone. 

After dropping out of college, Charlotte, who lives in South Cerney, didn’t know what she wanted to do. She knew that college was not for her and that she didn’t want to be stuck in a dead-end job, but she was getting no response from her applications for dozens of jobs. 

Then she saw details of The Platform Project on social media and signed up to join their internship scheme. 

“My very first project with The Platform Project was helping to make a video on anger management and taking photos behind the scenes to make a trailer clip,” said Charlotte. “It was so much fun! But I also learned how to take a client brief, plan a project, and work in a team.”

Soon afterwards, Charlotte got involved in projects planning two charitable events. She also continued to develop her photography skills behind the scenes at exhibitions and participated in a fashion shoot.

“When I first joined The Platform Project, I had no self-confidence. I didn’t believe in myself at all. I was very shy and didn’t talk to people,” explained Charlotte. “Now I will go up to people and talk to them. The internship has helped me massively with my communication skills and people skills. I have so much more confidence in myself enabling me to apply for a job, talk to people on the phone and write formal letters to companies.”

When she went for an interview for her current role, they asked her what she had done at The Platform Project and with the projects she had worked on. 

“It was great to be able to put my experience at The Platform Project on my CV. My new employer said it showed I was hard working and had a wide range of experience and skills for someone my age. I am so excited at getting this job in the hospitality sector, as it is exactly what I wanted and I am now starting a new chapter in my life and am confident about my future.”

Daniella, who lives in Dorcan, Swindon, joined internship scheme in March and, after four months there, she had secured herself a job with First City Nursing Services. 

“It has really supported me gaining confidence, learn new skills and enhancing my talents,” said Daniella. “Getting a job in care has always been a dream of mine, but I never believed in the past that it would become a reality because of my low confidence.”

During her four months with The Platform Project, Daniella focused her creative writing passion to produce content for the projects youth led blog #iDare as well as working with an employability mentor to help her develop her work readiness skills such as timekeeping, interviewing and organisation skills. 

Daniella said: “If you would like to feel welcomed into and involved in a professional team and find new and exciting opportunities for the future, The Platform Project is the place for you.” 

Sadie Sharp, founder of The Platform Project, said: “I am super proud of these two who really embraced their time with us and all the experiences on offer. It’s so difficult for young people to get into work without any work experience, and it’s a difficult cycle to break, particularly when the number of people applying for entry level jobs is so high as a result of the pandemic. We have really honed our internship programme to give young people a real, practical and hands on work experience that loads their CV with experiences that can really help them stand out to employers and secure entry level jobs with a professional level of skills. We are fortunate enough to have secured an enormous amount of funding to increase the places we can now offer to young people in and around Swindon.

If you know a young person looking to increase their confidence and employability skills The Platform Project are now interviewing young people to fill their internship placements starting from September. If you know someone who might benefit, please email [email protected]. 

*Image shows Charlotte Hinds and Daniella Page, both attended internships at The Platform Project and both are now in work.