Students from Kingsway Primary School in Goole recently enjoyed the opportunity to meet business owners in the town centre as part of visit organised by Opportunity Goole, which is funded by Goole Town Deal.

As part of last week’s visit, a group students from Years 4 and 5 at Kingsway Primary School spent time at The Lounge Paradise Tearooms & Bar on Paradise Place, and at Mollie’s Party Paradise and Mamma Win’s Pet Supplies, both of which are on Boothferry Road. At each business they chatted with the owner, asking them questions about what their work entails and how they got into their chosen profession.

They then headed to Huddle on Estcourt Street, where they took part in an enterprise activity that involved them being given a budget to buy materials to create a product that they could then sell to make a profit. A Community Interest Company, Huddle offers a range of inclusive, low cost arts and crafts workshops for people of all ages and abilities.

All four of the businesses that the children visited have previously accessed advice and support from Opportunity Goole, which is one of eight projects funded by the Goole Town Deal programme. It was set up to support both individuals and businesses, by helping people to secure employment and ensuring that employers can recruit local people with the skillset that they’re looking for.

Speaking after the visit, Lexy Kelly of The Lounge Paradise Tearooms & Bar said: “I enjoyed it as much as the children did. As a mum of five, it’s very important to me to encourage and influence our next generations. I love children, and nurturing them to be their best self. I also enjoy telling my story to others as I believe it gives them encouragement to go for it, and I’m always happy to accept offers to help our community.”

Roger White of Huddle said: “I think the visit is a great idea as it gets children involved in what’s happening in their town. We opened earlier this year, so we’re relatively new and offer something quite different, so it was great to get the kids in to enjoy an activity that also helps them with their number skills. 

“Because we’re a Community Interest Company, we offer really low-cost, inclusive workshops. In some cases, we can offer them free of charge, thanks to funding that the Opportunity Goole team helped us to secure. We offer our Craft Companions weekdays sessions, which help combat loneliness and isolation among older people, as well as plenty of evening sessions and also a Kids Club on a Saturday mornings.”

Miss Newstead, a teacher at Kingsway Primary School, said that the visits had been ‘great’, adding: “The children have asked some really good questions when chatting with the business owners, we’re very proud of them.”

The outing was just the latest in a series of activities that Opportunity Goole has arranged for local schools, all of which are aimed at giving children of all ages an insight into the different career opportunities on offer to them. Team member Sarah Bonnett recently supported a careers event at Kingsway Primary School, where she told students about her job as a Personal Advisor, providing bespoke support to both businesses and individuals. The team is now planning similar visits with other local primary schools, as well as continuing its careers work at Goole Academy, where Promotions Coordinator Joe Hodgson, recently took part in an activity aimed at helping the students prepare for college and job interviews.