A unique fundraising auction of work experience placements for young people is set to raise money for Suffolk’s three hospices.
High Sheriff of Suffolk Tessa Innes, with help from her friends, has persuaded around 60 local, national and international companies to offer between one and four weeks of work experience to help youngsters aged between 18 and 25 get a foot on the career ladder.
Mrs Innes is hoping parents and grandparents will bid online for the opportunities as a way of supporting their relatives’ career hopes and helping local charities.
Many of the companies are based in Suffolk or London but there are also one-off placements in San Francisco and Monaco.
Roles range from landscape gardening, yachting, banking, food and hospitality, fashion design, marketing and journalism.
Bids start from £50 and all proceeds will be shared between three charities, East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices (EACH), St Nicholas Hospice Care and St Elizabeth Hospice.
Some of the work experiences opportunities young people can choose from are at:
- The Suffolk Food Hall
- The East Anglian Daily Times editorial department
- Fashion houses Hermes, Bruce Oldfield or Amanda Wakeley
- Christie’s auction house
- Sadler’s Wells – London’s home of dance
- Royal Academy of the Arts
- Country Life or the Lady magazine
- Aldeburgh Music at Snape Maltings Concert Hall
- London art gallery The Portland gallery
- Yachting company Edmiston in Monaco
- The marketing department of pure software company Autonomy in San Francisco
- Mandarin Oriental Hotel, London
Mrs Innes, who was appointed High Sheriff in April and lives near Ipswich, explained that she came up with the idea for the online auction last year after reading how difficult it was for young people in the UK to even get job interviews and hearing how much money Suffolk’s hospices need to raise each year.
She added: “With half term next week I am hoping many students will be thinking ahead to the summer and what opportunities they would like to help them fufil their career aspirations.
“Many of the companies who have agreed to take part in this project would never normally offer work experience placements so these really are sought-after positions and some have said if the candidate impresses them there may even be a salaried job for them eventually.”
“I hope the online auction will support our young people in the community and by doing so they will be in turn helping Suffolk’s hospices to continue to provide their important services.”
To bid visit www.stelizabethhospice.org.uk/auction before 5pm on June 30th.