Ever wondered what it takes to create the colour on your bedroom wall? For a group of curious Year 8 pupils from Whytrig Middle School, that question became a hands-on reality during a recent Spark Northumberland visit to AkzoNobel.
Twenty students spent the day at one of Northumberland’s major manufacturers, getting a genuine behind-the-scenes look at an industry most young people never get to see up close. Hosted by the brilliant Jill Johnston, the group toured the plant, were introduced to the concept of standardised work, and visited the lab to discover exactly how paint colours are mixed and matched. They even got to take some of their own paint samples back to school, a colourful reminder of everything they’d learned.
It’s exactly the kind of experience Spark Northumberland is designed to create. For many young people, the careers that exist right on their doorstep remain completely invisible. Seeing a real workplace in action, meeting the people who work there, and getting hands-on with what they do can be genuinely transformative. Suddenly, an industry they’d never considered becomes something they can picture themselves being part of, right here in Northumberland.
Visits like this help bridge the gap between the classroom and the world of work, showing young people not just what careers are out there, but that those opportunities are accessible and local.
A huge thank you to Jill and the whole team at AkzoNobel for opening their doors so generously and helping to inspire the next generation of Northumberland talent.
If you’re a Northumberland employer who would like to showcase your organisation to young people, we’d love to hear from you.
