BV dairy has sponsored Shaftesbury School’s membership of Dorset’s Young Chamber Programme.

The remit of the Young Chamber is to engage students across Dorset in a programme which prepares them for work, helps them to be aware of the different paths to their chosen career and inspires

(Front left and right) Tim Farrer, Principal at Shaftesbury School with Harry Cowan, Commercial Director at BV Dairy, with (back left and right), Karen Johnson, Careers Adviser and Joan Senior, Young Chamber Coordinator.

those who have not yet made a choice about what they would like to do.

As a Young Chamber sponsor, BV Dairy will provide students with talks, visits and projects and support careers events. In addition, the role of the dedicated Young Chamber coordinator is to develop a programme that helps the school access other businesses/business people from a wide variety of sectors and backgrounds across the Dorset Chamber membership.

Sponsorship also enrols the school as a Dorset Chamber member, allowing staff to attend learning seminars and network with other businesses and schools.

Harry Cowan, commercial director at BV Dairy said: ‘We celebrate our 60th anniversary this year and have growth plans which includes long term recruitment. We want to present ourselves to the local area as an employer recruiting at different levels, including apprenticeships and management across different skills sets.

‘For example, our Ultra Filtration Plant is a world class facility for manufacturing requiring expertise in running and maintenance and, like any successful business, we have IT, HR, NPD, finance and sales departments, as well as a requirement for the specialist food technologist skills needed for the development and sale of our new dairy-based products.

‘As a local employer to the school we see this is as a perfect fit. We place a strong emphasis on training and lifelong education of our workforce to face the dynamic challenges of the 21st century.

Forming a close link with Shaftesbury School makes sense on many levels, but what we also like about the Young Chamber Programme is the additional support its coordinator is able to provide to the school through other Dorset Chamber members.’

Tim Farrer, principal at Shaftesbury School said: ‘We are delighted that BV Dairy has sponsored us as part of the Young Chamber and myself and our careers advisor, Karen Johnson, visited BV Dairy straight away to see the facilities ourselves and understand how we can work together for the benefit of our students. Being outward facing is imperative if we are to offer outstanding opportunities for young people in the area.’

Joan Senior, Young Chamber coordinator, said: ‘The latest Government announcements on careers strategy, options into higher education including apprenticeships and aligning businesses and schools means engaging businesses is no longer just a ‘nice to have’ but a necessity. Schools who choose to make full use of the Young Chamber Programme are potentially providing an advantage for their students.’