EMPOWER THRIVE ACHIEVE 2025

The Wider Lancashire Inclusion Summit 2025 took place at Life Church Lancashire in Burnley on Wednesday 7th May 2025

We had an amazing mix of people in the room and lots of inspirational speakers. Please see below relevant links and slides that were presented on the day for more information.

Our surprise opening piece for the day was delivered by LPM Dance who use movement and dance as a tool for collaboration, education and social change.

We then heard from Kelly Dillon, Senior Manager of Progression, Transition and Removal of Barriers from The Careers & Enterprise Company regarding the emerging themes from Gatsby Next 10 Year report. Slides here – Kelly Dillon Slides

Next was Joanne Spurgeon, NEC Representative for BASE (British Association for Supported Employment) and Dan Dixon, Strategic Programme Manager from Lancashire Skills and Employment Hub, discussing the end of the Internships Work Agenda, and the DWP Connect to Work Programme. Slides here – Joanne Spurgeon Slides and Dan Dixon Slides

Hannah Thurston, Enterprise Coordinator for Lancashire Careers Hub, led a networking activity which was a playful spin on the classic one-page profile, inspired by the NDTi resource which can be found here – One Page Profile – NDTi 

Michelle Billington and Michelle Fox, also part of Lancashire Careers Hub, launched our new Enterprise Adviser Recruitment Video on Vimeo. If you would like to get involved, please visit the Lancashire Skills Pledge

We heard from West Lancashire Community High School Assistant Head Teacher, Louise Holcroft and Students regarding Careers and Inclusion. Slides here – Louise Holcroft – WLCHS Slides

The importance of a strong SENDCo and Career Leader Relationship was then discussed by Ross Doohan, Behaviour and Careers Lead, and Louise Lowe, Deputy Head and SENDCo from The Heights, Blackburn. Slides here – The Heights Slides

Aaron Wilkinson, the Youth Educational Lead from The Kings Trust, talked us through the The Kings Trust Achieve Programme. More info here – Kings Trust Achieve Presentation

To kickstart our afternoon of inspiration, we’re welcomed Bailey Smith. Bailey is a renowned advocate for employment equity, diversity, and inclusion, specialising in disability and neurodivergence and their goal was to become the representation they needed to see in the industry. Slides here – Bailey Smith Slides

We then welcomed Jo Chatburn, Deputy Headteacher at Pendle Community High School and College and Karen Hodgson, Career Leader at Bleasdale School  to share how they utilised funding aimed at fostering innovative workplace experiences. Slides Here – Pendle Community College Slides and Bleasdale School Slides

Finally, we wanted to highlight the importance of our networking events and specifically the impact this can have on our young people’s lives. To tell us more, we heard from Julie Baker, Social Value Manager at Keepmoat Homes and Lee Toulson, Assistant Headteacher and Career Lead at Sir Tom Finney Community High School. Slides here – Keepmoat and STF Slides