Industry urged to back careers week
Springboard UK, the hospitality careers organisation, has issued a rallying call for support of its fourth national Careers Festival, which kicks off on 31 March 2003.
The week-long festival is designed to promote hospitality as a career choice for school leavers and returners-to-work through a range of events such as workshops, careers fairs, job shadowing and skills challenges.
Springboard hopes that these events will generate publicity through coverage in regional and national media, and it aims to attract more than 100,000 potential employees to the industry as a result.
"We want this year's festival to be the biggest and best," said Anne Walker, managing director of Springboard UK, speaking at the Compass-sponsored launch of the festival at the Globe theatre in London last week. "We want to alter people's perception of hospitality through work experience, and we would like to see thousands of organisations throw open their doors during the week."
Chairman of the festival next year is Angie Risley, human resources director with Whitbread.
A list of regional activities is available on request, and more information can be found at www.springboardfestival.org.uk.
Bid now for great prizes
There is still time to bid for some of the great prizes being offered as part of Springboard's online fundraising auction, hosted on Caterer.com. Competition is hotting up for such items as a Pentium PC, a VIP theatre trip to London and an overnight stay for two in London's Lanesborough hotel. The auction remains open until 18 December.
