Our Law and Business students attended the final session of the Empower Mentoring Scheme on 6th December with our friends from Oldham College. We travelled to the offices of Squire Patton Boggs Solicitors in Spinningfields Manchester.
The morning started with a breakfast networking session where our students had the opportunity to chat with the mentors informally. This was followed by a session on resilience as students strive to achieve their career goals. Partner Mark Gaffney, Director James Thompson and Associate Alex Villiers gave inspirational talks on challenges they had faced in achieving their goal in the legal profession. They focused on not allowing disappointments and setbacks to define who you are and continuing to move forward. The morning finished with a talk from Ellie Eaves the Emerging Talent Manager who is responsible for legal apprentices and trainee solicitors at Squires. Ellie provided our students with application tips and advice focusing on transferable employability skills.
This is the second year of the Empower Mentoring Scheme which focuses on raising aspirations and increasing social mobility. Our students are very fortunate to have the opportunity to participate in the scheme. Principal, Peter McGhee CBE, commented, “Participation in the Empower Mentoring Scheme is a fantastic opportunity for our students. Experiences such as this help to shape the futures of our young people and we are so grateful to Alex Villiers, Millie Woodruff and the other mentors who have been so generous in sharing their expertise and in creating the time to do this within their busy working lives. At St John Rigby College we do a lot to help and encourage students to plan for their future and we know the impact that direct contact with employers has on inspiring them in their future aspirations. This mentoring scheme is a powerful example of the impact of colleges and employers working in partnership and we could not be more grateful to Squire Patton Boggs Solicitors for what they are doing for our young people.”
