CRUISE Liverpool is embarking on an exciting new journey – helping young people across Merseyside feel inspired and optimistic about their future.
A series of partnership deals with local schools and voluntary organisations is helping to open the eyes of school children, as well as young adults with learning disabilities, to job opportunities in the cruise sector and a range of other industries.
By working in local communities, Cruise Liverpool aims to showcase the breadth of roles that are available in their team, offering a range of visits on-site, as well as work placements that will give hands-on experience of working at a busy cruise terminal.
Cruise Liverpool has joined forces with The Johnson Foundation and their ‘My Big Future’ Junior Careers Inspiration Programme to deliver workshops and career sessions with children from Christ Church Primary in Birkenhead. Pupils will be given the chance to visit the terminal and board Fred Olsen Line’s Borealis for a behind the scenes look at how a cruise ship operates.
The cruise team is also taking part in Liverpool City Council’s Support Intern Programme, which sees young people with learning disabilities given the chance to work in a range of roles within the council over a 12 month period, to boost their confidence and skills and give them the foundations on which to build their own career. A supported intern will work with Cruise Liverpool over the busy summer season, learning the ropes of the terminal and bringing fresh ideas to the table.
Cruise Liverpool is now a partner of Speakers for Schools, a national social mobility charity founded by ITV’s Political Editor Robert Peston, and supported by the Law Family Charitable Foundation, with a mission to level the playing field for young people. As a partner organisation, Cruise Liverpool will deliver discovery workshops to young people aged 11-19. The sessions, a mix of online and in-person, are a great way to shine a light on the cruise industry, showcasing the variety of roles and pathways on offer and inspiring young people to find out more.
Finally, for the second year running, Cruise Liverpool will partner with Strawberry Field to deliver their ‘Step to Work Programme’, which reaches out to young adults aged 18 – 25 with learning difficulties or other barriers to employment through a training hub in the new Strawberry Field centre. The programme combines education and work placements to ensure trainees are truly work-ready. Each trainee will embark on an eight-week work readiness programme, followed by a three-month work placement at Liverpool Cruise Terminal on ship days.
Cllr Harry Doyle, Cabinet Member for Cabinet Member for Health, Wellbeing and Culture said: “As much as our Cruise Terminal is about growing our tourism sector and boosting the city’s visitor economy, there is so much more it can offer in terms of opportunities for people who live, work and go to school in Liverpool. The partnerships that Cruise Liverpool has entered into is a fantastic way of showcasing exciting and non-traditional career paths to our young people, hopefully inspiring them to dream big and work hard so they can reach their full potential, whether that’s in the cruise sector or elsewhere.”
Head of Cruise Operations, John Mawer, said: “Cruise Liverpool facilitates over 115 cruise vessels each year, bringing over 220,000 guests into the heart of the city we love. Community is central to all that we do, we offer a sense of place, a home-from-home for our staff and visiting guests. We know there’s so much we can offer to young people who are maybe unsure about their future or who need that little bit of extra encouragement and belief, to think that a career in the cruise industry is within their reach. That’s why we’re engaging in our partnership programmes, to remove any perceived barriers to working in cruise and help young people to achieve their goals.”
