Stockport students experience health of social care careers taster day

300 secondary school students from across Stockport and Tameside have had the chance to get hands-on experiences of health and social care careers.

Stockport Council and Stockport NHS Foundation Trust welcomed the 14-16 year-olds to Stockport Town Hall on Tuesday 30 September, to take part in the One Stockport Health and Social Care Jobs Safari Taster Day.

From trying out interactive activities to hearing real stories from staff working in local services, students discovered the wide variety of rewarding careers on offer through the event.

This year’s Jobs Safari built on the success of previous events run by Stockport NHS, and for the first time included adult social care staff and providers, as well as clinical professionals from Stepping Hill Hospital, Pennine Care, Tameside NHS and the Northwest Ambulance Service. Together, they created an inspiring day designed to spark curiosity, build confidence, and help young people start thinking about the career paths open to them, just as they begin preparing for their GCSEs and considering future opportunities.

Cllr Helen Foster-Grime, Cabinet Member for Health, Wellbeing and Adult Social Care, said:

“Events like this really matter, because the young people who came along today are the workforce of tomorrow. It was wonderful to hear how engaged and enthusiastic the students were — they asked brilliant questions and threw themselves into every activity. By working together across the council, NHS and One Stockport partners, we are helping to make sure the next generation feel inspired, supported and ready to take those next steps towards a career in this vital sector.”

Helen Howard, Stockport NHS Foundation Trust Deputy Chief Nurse said:

“The One Stockport Job Safari event was a terrific opportunity to get young people involved and was great to see such interest and enthusiasm from them on the day. The future of health and social care depends on more young people joining in the many different careers available, and successful partnership events such as this will help that to continue. We hope that for some this may have been the first step on a bright new career in health and social care.”

Graham Street, Careers Lead for Hazel Grove High School, said:

“This is a brilliant event for our students; we’ve managed to bring some health and social care students in year 10. It’s a really good experience for them and they’re getting to see real life examples of people’s jobs and the kind of roles they’d be taking on within the NHS.

“What I really like about the event is that our students are getting the chance to try real life experiences. It’s not just a visit to talk to people – it’s hands on, doing some real jobs, real roles and it’s making a difference.”

The event was also supported by Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA), who worked closely with local schools to make sure as many young people as possible could take part.