wellington college yearbook 19/20
THE TALENT TAP Summer 2019 was the 8th year The Talent Tap has welcomed aspiring students from now 9 different schools to London for work experience placements. Due to the immense generosity of donors and work experience providers, the majority of whom are OWs, the charity is going from strength to strength. In doing so The Talent Tap continues to address the lack of social mobility in Britain. The Talent Tap aims to enhance social mobility through enabling access to employability. The charity delivers advice and mentoring built around two-week, fully funded, residential work experience programmes currently in London but with expansion plans across the UK. School leavers from a number of regional schools and academies including Wellington Academy who are housed for a fortnight in shared student accommodation, and, as well as undertaking the work placements, the young adults take part in a variety of sessions including training in interview technique, advice on C.V. drafting and structure, motivational presentations by business leaders, dinners and cultural experiences. This year (2019) our scheme took place over two consecutive fortnights with the second being specifically for prospective lawyers organised and hosted by Jones Day. We had incredibly positive feedback, which showed in the number of students who applied to return to us in 2020. We asked our students…What was the best thing about The Talent Tap scheme? • The networking opportunities and contacts that I gained that I would not have been able to get without The Talent Tap. • I can’t pick one because there’s just so much good about it, definitely the work experience that’s very true to the field it’s in. But the social aspect of the scheme is also just amazing, it’s just full of nice people. • It's hard to narrow down, as the whole experience was incredible; the incredible people that I met, that I am sure will be my friends for life; being able to learn something new, and work in a different industry. • I don’t think there’s one thing, I loved every aspect equally. Such as the social aspect; gaining connections and friends; the work experience or even having the insight into adulthood. The diverse range of people with different aspirations and goals for the future is extremely inspiring to me.
And so, buoyed on by OW and Founder Nick Cowley’s (HI 96) momentous fundraising run — running 6 marathons in 5 days along the notoriously hilly South West Coastal Path, and raising in excess of £40,000 for the charity, we entered 2020 on a high. January to March were a whirlwind for The Talent Tap — onboarding two new schools to take the number we support to nine and interviewing over 50 prospective candidates to join our Alumni for the summer season…. And then Covid-19 hit! As we write this, like so many, we are in a very different place than where we predicted we would be in 2020. Not a single person or sector has been left unscathed by the Covid-19 pandemic. Being a small charity we are lucky that we can be nimble, and have a great network. Obviously, our funding and residential programmes have severely suffered over the lockdown and beyond, but as a charity whose main mantra is creating opportunities, we are endeavouring to do just that! Our focus, like for so many, has been to take our support online. We have had regular updates with our Alumni past and present and surveyed them to find out how the pandemic has affected them individually. One of the most worrying themes that came through is the effect on mental health, which we have addressed individually with people and have given some coping mechanisms on group chats. We have found that the companies and organisations we work with have been incredibly supportive. There have been offers of mentoring, webinars and project creation and many have reached out to us first, which is certainly rewarding. The most exciting project, which began on Thursday 30th April has been our series of "Zoominars". A number of industry leaders have given their time to tell students about their careers to date, giving insights into their industries and tips on how to get ahead. We have had some phenomenal contributors including the Controller of E4, Karl Warner and Patrick Rolfe. a Film Production Designer whose credits include Paddington 2 and Trainspotting 2. We have also worked with the charity GAIN www.gainuk.org —
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