Festival with real WOW factor

Students from across Boston got a taste of the world of work when they attended a special event on Valentine’s Day.

Around 1,000 attended the day-long pilot project for the first Lincolnshire World of Work (WOW) Festival at the Princess Royal Sports Arena in the town.

The idea of the timing and emphasis on Valentine’s Day was for teenagers to fall in love with the idea of working in one of six important sectors, say organisers.

Activities were as diverse as handling some giant-sized creepy-crawlies to managing mega-energy supplies with millions of Euros at risk.

Speaking after the event, organisers said hopes were high that the success of the Boston pilot would see similar events rolled out to other areas of the county.

It was organised by LiNCHIGHER and was supported by Boston Council, Greater Lincolnshire Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) and The Careers and Enterprise Company.

Businesses, organisations and various agencies were represented at the event under the headings of Health and Care, Ports and Logistics, Manufacturing and Engineering, Agri-Food, Low Carbon and Visitor Economy.

Sharon Bratley, LiNCHIGHER adviser, said they usually operate in individual schools so the event was a test bed to bring many together at the same time.

Pupils aged 13 and 14 attended from Boston High, Haven High, Thomas Cowley, Thomas Middlecott, Boston Grammar, and Giles Academy and 17-year-olds from Boston College.