Students from King Edward VI Balaam Wood Academy joined secondary schools from across Birmingham to spend a full day at the £1.2 billion Paradise estate learning more about the world of work.
The day was organised for Paradise and its occupiers by Ahead Partnership which leads the estate’s school engagement programme with four schools across the city: Bordesley Green Girls School, Nishkam School, Tile Cross Academy and King Edward VI Balaam Wood Academy.
It was a full day designed to introduce young people to Paradise with a focus on life skills, careers, sustainability, the future of work, wellbeing and the workplace.
Occupiers based at Paradise, including Goldman Sachs, Arup and AtkinsRealis, hosted different groups of the students, allowing them insight into current employment trends, expectations and access requirements.
Crucially, the day exposed the students to people working in a diverse range of occupations in several different organisations. The event has also allowed the students to ask questions and hear directly from those working at different levels about what they do on a day-to-day basis.
By bringing a range of existing occupiers together around a common social purpose and building lasting links with local schools and students, the estate and its occupiers are jointly contributing to a real sense of community around Paradise and demystifying the work that is carried out in the estate’s workplaces.
Paradise sits in the country’s largest city centre Enterprise Zone and has benefited from investment in enabling and infrastructure works. Paradise has already completed phase one of the development with One & Two Chamberlain Square and the renewal of the square itself, together with the completion of One Centenary Way and the imminent completion of Three Chamberlain Square.
There are already 6,000 people working at Paradise which is home to a wide range of office occupiers as well as a growing roster of leisure operators which includes Dishoom, Albert’s Schloss, Rosa’s Thai, F1®Arcade, Yorks Café, La Bellezza and Cow & Sow.
