When a group of young people from Grange View School in Northumberland walked into Raytec’s manufacturing facility in Ashington they probably didn’t expect to leave with a new perspective on what their county is capable of.
But that’s exactly what happened.
As part of Connect Northumberland‘s Connect Inspires programme, the students toured the factory, met the team and got hands-on with the specialist LED lighting manufactured on site. The moment that stopped them in their tracks? Finding out that products made right here in Northumberland are shipped to customers all over the world.
It’s the kind of discovery that no classroom lesson can replicate, and precisely why Connect Inspires exists.
The programme is built on a simple but powerful belief: that young people in Northumberland deserve to see what’s possible on their doorstep. Too often, the careers and industries that exist locally are invisible to the young people growing up alongside them. A visit like this changes that. In a single morning, a group of students went from having no connection to the manufacturing industry to understanding that world-class innovation is happening in their own community.
A huge thank you to the Raytec team for giving their time, opening their doors and doing what the best employers in Northumberland do: investing in the next generation.
