Realising Talent

Realising Talent – a pilot scheme to support 14-16 year olds with mentoring and guidance

The Realising Talent initiative (RT) is run by the West of England Combined Authority (WECA) in partnership with the Local Councils for Bristol City (BCC), Bath and NE Somerset (B&NES), and South Gloucestershire (SGC).

This is a WECA funded ‘Pilot’ scheme led by B&NES Council, to provide additional support to 14 – 16 year olds to explore and improve their opportunities at Post 16.

The scheme aims to engage with a group of young people across the region to offer: mentoring, careers advice and guidance, and additional courses to improve health and wellbeing, confidence, life skills and college/job ready skills.

The programme will be put together by B&NES, SGC, BCC, Bath College and 3rd Sector Organisations within the area.

This is a two-year programme involving a mixture of bespoke 1:1 sessions and group sessions, through a coordinated hub of providers.

A ‘passport’ will be presented at the end of the programme which will be recognisable to further education providers and local businesses.

RT aims to reduce the number of young people at age 14 to 16 who are struggling at school and disengaging in transitions to education and training at post-16. It will achieve this by providing early intervention and support via a variety of programmes tailored to the individual, using different providers. This could include sport, outdoor activity, or work experience. The young people can also learn a variety of skills such as travel training, social skills and therapies as needed.