After travelling to Cardiff and Glasgow, the UKFT Skills and Training team was pleased to finally arrive in London for the last instalment of the Skills career fair series. As the UK’s largest careers event for 14 to 24 year olds, Skills London welcomed 35,000 visitors at the Excel Centre on the 25th and 26th of November.

Across Skills Cymru, Skills Scotland and Skills London, we had the chance to meet and advise many young people and their families.

The fashion and textile industry is a thriving sector and our ambition was to show that it offers plenty of career opportunities and progression routes. Visitors could discover various vacancies advertised by local employers on our live job board. We also organised hands-on industry activities including:

Skills Cymru (Cardiff, 19^th-20^th of October)

• Industrial Sewing delivered by Gower College
• Adobe and Pattern Cutting workshops delivered by Fashion Enter

Skills Scotland (Glasgow, 2^nd-3^rd of November)

• Pattern Cutting and Draping workshop delivered by Glasgow Clyde College
• Recycling activity delivered by ASC Clothing
• Weaving and Screen Printing by Herriot Watt
• Industrial Knitting by Barrie Knitwear

Skills London (London, 25^th-26^th of November)

• Fashion and Textile workshop delivered in partnership with Apparel Tasker

These national career events were a success, as we received a total of 595 sign-ups from young people aged 14 to 24 wanting to know more about career opportunities! Celia Thornley, UKFT’s Skills and Training Manager, said:

“Delivering the latest series of UKFT careers events in Wales, Scotland and London has been inspirational and motivating, our fresh approach has led to keen interest in the industry from young people, their parents and influencers, raising awareness of job roles, training, apprenticeships and qualifications, with hundreds signing up to UKFT Futures and seriously considering the sector as a future career option. I believe we are well on our way to a refreshed sector image and a rejuvenated skills pipeline.”

Want to know more about UKFT Skills and Training initiatives? Click on the link below:

Skills and Training