Falcons HITZ visit Stratstone Land Rover
This week participants in the Newcastle Falcons HITZ programme were lucky enough to see behind the scenes at the prestigious Stratstone Land Rover dealership in Newcastle.
Land Rover have been involved in supporting Rugby for many years and are a key partner to the HITZ programme nationally. Participants in the HITZ programme across the country have visited Land Rover sites to see how the company functions and what it takes to succeed in the motor industry, and this week it was the turn of Newcastle Falcons.
The HITZ programme focuses on providing young people with the skills they need to move successfully into the world of work and that was the focus of this visit to Stratstone. Sales Assistant Daniel Johnstone, himself only 22, inspired the HITZ group with his story of coming out of school without the qualifications he had hoped for, but by taking his chances and working hard he has been able to gain employment with an internationally recognised company.
The group were given a tour of the showroom and workshop, giving them an idea of the range of careers on offer and also the opportunity to sit behind the wheel of some fantastic cars – even though the keys were kept well hidden! They were also shown what the cars can do as they were taken around a fearsome off-road track.
The day finished with insight from Simon, an apprentice in the workshop and from Mark Axten, Dealership Principal at Stratstone. Simon told the group “An apprenticeship with Land Rover is great because you get to earn while you learn and also you get the experience of doing something for real, not like it is at college or Uni.”
Mark Axten told the group “When applying for a job make sure you go in fully armed, understand everything you can about the company and industry you are applying to and try to get some hands on experience.”
Newcastle Falcons HITZ project is now recruiting for our programme starting in September, so if you or someone you know would benefit from experiences like working with Land Rover and gaining nationally recognised qualifications in Sport, Maths, English and ITC get in touch now, email sam.shaw-Kew@newcastle-falcons.co.uk or call 0191 2142803.
For more information visit our website or follow us on Twitter @Falcons_HITZ
