'Careers and Fears' event helps give young women in South Tyneside a positive start in life

The group from Bright Futures, a charity helping women and girls aged 11-25 in the North East, hosted the ‘Careers and Fears’ event at The Sutton Hall in Prince Edward Road, South Shields.

The charity works with young women to give them a brighter future by raising their self-esteem and confidence around a range of issues such as sexual health, homelessness, and anti-social behaviour through volunteer events, activities and support sessions.

A nurse, a firefighter and a police officer were some of those who attended to give an insight into their roles.

Toni Pearson, project worker at Bright Futures, said despite some last-minute cancellations, the event went well.

She explained how the group had been given a budget of £500, which they split between advertising, decorations, stationary and a buffet.

The project was funded through another charity in the North East called The Key, which aims to help people aged 11-to-25 break free from social barriers and improve their futures through its development programme.

Toni said the event, which took the group two months to plan and put together, was attended by 16 professionals and 24 girls and boys under 25.

“The social action project provided the girls with an opportunity to upskill themselves whilst helping other young people in the local community,” said Toni.

"It also gave them an understanding of what goes in to planning and organising a big event.

"It was great to see the group on stage confidently welcoming the guests and encouraging them to seek advice and guidance from those in attendance. Hopefully the event has inspired young people to follow their dreams.”

Ellie Brennan from the group said: “I found the event quite informative and it helped young people.

"Personally I have been able to work on different skills that I was not so confident with before.

"The event has helped me work on my communication kills, I also got to talk with different professionals and learn more about different jobs that I didn’t know before.

"I think that all of the professionals that attended were quite varied. The highlight of the project for me was when it all came together on the morning.”