More than 500 young people from schools and colleges across North Wales explored careers in Nursing, Allied Health and Social Care during a special event hosted at Wrexham University, in partnership with Coleg Cambria.
The Future Healthcare Heroes event, which took place this week, saw learners from across the region attend the discovery event, in a bid to gain an insight into the varied roles of health and social care professionals and what career opportunities will be available to them in the future.
The day consisted of a series of talks by academics on the various degree programmes offered at Wrexham University – some of which included Nursing, Speech and Language Therapy, Paramedic Science, and Nutrition and Dietetics.
There was also a host of hands-on activities including sessions on basic life support, airway management, clinical skills and students trialling virtual reality headsets and vision impairment glasses.
The day concluded with a careers fair, featuring more than 20 organisations who provide employment opportunities in the sector locally, including Health Education and Improvement Wales (HEIW), WeCare Wales, Save a Life Cymru, The Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital, and more.
Dr Caroline Hughes, Associate Dean for Student Engagement at Wrexham University, said: “We were delighted to host this year’s Future Healthcare Heroes, here at Wrexham University, in partnership with Coleg Cambria.
“It was wonderful to welcome hundreds of young people on campus, who were able to hear about the many and varied opportunities available in health and social care – many of whom could be our region’s next generation of healthcare heroes.
“Our main aim of the event was to inspire but also remove barriers for those young people, and highlight these rewarding and crucial career opportunities, while getting in front of potential future employers.”
Steven Peacock, Vice Principal of Academic Studies at Coleg Cambria, said: “Building on the success of last year’s Future Healthcare Heroes programme, Coleg Cambria was pleased to once again work in collaboration with Wrexham University on this event.
“We welcomed learners from high schools across the region and college students to meet with a wide range of employers from the healthcare sector, to learn more about the wealth of career opportunities on offer.”
Rosie Kingscott, a Year 13 student at Ysgol Eirias in Colwyn Bay, added: “It was a great day. Events such as these are crucial because they’ve broadened my understanding of the hands-on aspects of Occupational Therapy, which is the career path I want to go down.”
