North West Prepares for First Ever Education & Employment Extravaganza

A free festival designed to inspire local people in the North West to make the connection from Education to Employability (E2E), will be held at Ebrington Square, Derry~Londonderry on May 26.

The E2E festival, the first of its kind for the region, is a partnership delivery by North West Regional College with Derry City and Strabane District Council. 

Taking place on the same weekend as the ‘Together Music Festival’ – E2E is set to be a landmark day for the learning and career aspirations of local people.

As well as informing the community about the exciting educational and employment opportunities available locally, there will also be a number of fun events for people of all ages and families.

The innovative event will feature a number of interactive showcases and exhibitions from a range of leading learning and industry organisations who will be exhibiting within three large marquees, each having a separate theme – Showcase, Interaction, and Employability.

Exhibitors will include Letterkenny Institute of Technology, Invest NI, Barclays Life Skills, Zenith Insurance, Tesco, and many organisations will be offering job opportunities on the day.
One such organisation is local company Errigal Contracts who will be offering 16 Full-Time Apprenticeships positions in the area of interior design systems.

Staff from the Western Trust will also be taking part showcasing the wide range of careers and job opportunities available locally in the health and social care sector.

Live music and entertainment will take place all afternoon, there will be culinary demonstrations, and dozens of fun and informative activities. 

W5 will be on site with a Minecraft demonstration, the local fire service will carry out an emergency demonstration and Ulster University will be exhibiting their interactive robot.

Speaking at this week’s launch, Karen Moore, Head of Student Services at North West Regional College, said: “ E2E promised to be an exciting community event for people across the region.

She added: “E2E is new and innovative, and has been designed to enthuse and inspire local people to make the transition from learning into employment.  Nowadays, employment trends evolve constantly and we are confident this event will not only showcase real job opportunities but will also be a celebration of the skills and talents that currently exist within the education and employment sectors.”

Mayor of Derry City and Strabane District Council, Alderman Hilary McClintock said:

“As event partner Derry City and Strabane District Council are delighted to support this unique festival which will be of huge benefit for the local community and the region.  Following on from council’s recent bid to become European Youth Capital, a key priority for us has been to showcase the North West as one of the most progressive places for young people to live, learn and work.

“I would encourage as many people as possible to attend the event on May 26 to discover the key pathways that can move you from education to employment,”

Errigal Contracts based in Derry~Londonderry and Dungiven will be one of the many companies exhibiting during the E2E festival.

Training and personnel manager Ciara King said: “We are delighted to be partnering with North West Regional College for the delivery of this apprenticeship in Drylining. Errigal Contracts is a market leader in this field and we have 16 places available on the apprenticeship which will commence in September this year in NWRC Greystone campus. “The 2 year apprenticeship offers young people a fantastic opportunity to “earn while you learn”, gain work experience on some of our large scale commercial projects across the UK and the Island of Ireland and secure full time employment with our company.

“We would hope that many of our apprentices will progress to management positions within the company and we will provide the necessary training for them to achieve this.

“We will have live demonstrations at the E2E festival and we encourage all young people who are interested in a career in construction to come along to the event and find out more.”  

The festival takes place on Friday, May 26 from 1-6 p.m. at Ebrington Square. You are encouraged to register for the event beforehand at https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/e2e-festival-tickets-33149489014   for updates on the festival.

Further details on the event are available from the E2E Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/E2Efestival/