Delivering social value for young people across Coventry in 2024
We’re proud of our pioneering partnership with Coventry City Council. We had a busy end to 2024 in Coventry as we continued to deliver fantastic events for young people across the city.
From celebrating key achievements of local young people to running workshops on greener cities, we were involved in some amazing projects across Coventry in the second half of 2024.
Supporting the Youth Energy Summit
We worked with local performing arts company, Highly Sprung, and their team of Young Producers to deliver the Youth Energy Summit which invited young people in Years 5-13 to explore the energy transition, sparking ideas, discussions, action and hope.
A team of volunteers from across E.ON delivered a workshop on utopian and dystopian cities, delving into future energy needs and sources, green spaces and local communities, to four different schools. Julie Dixon, Partnership Lead, Coventry Strategic Energy Partnership at E.ON UK, also joined colleagues from Coventry City Council on a Q&A panel session, answering questions on everything from climate change and the energy transition to what the future could look like and how today’s young people can help tackle the climate crisis.
Simon Duncan, Director of EIS UK at E.ON UK, shared his thoughts on the event’s role in inspiring the students to take action and support the UK to meet its net zero goals:
“To meet the UK’s 2025 net zero goals, we need to teach and learn new, green skills to help the country develop clean energy sources. It’s today’s young people that will help the UK achieve this net zero goal.
“Events like the Youth Energy Summit are key to sparking that light that will inspire the next generation of sustainability heroes, who will continue the country’s journey towards a greener future.”
The summit also featured arts-based workshops which used physical theatre techniques to help students understand renewable energy technologies, energy conservation strategies and policy advocacy.
Celebrating Care Leavers
Along with Coventry City Council, we proudly sponsored the Care Leavers Awards for the third year in a row. The annual awards provide a great opportunity to celebrate key achievements from young people across Coventry. This year saw some amazing young people be recognised for awards including Sports, Health and Wellbeing, Inspiration and Personal Achievement, Heart of Gold and Community Achievement and Care Leaver of the Year.
Some of our apprentices attended the event, talking about their experiences at E.ON and the opportunities available to other young people interested in building a rewarding and meaningful career at the heart of the energy transition.
Sireen Munir, Accountancy and Taxation degree apprentice, attended the Care Leavers Awards and shared her thoughts about the evening: “It was an honour to represent E.ON in light of our growing involvement with young people in the city. It is a privilege to be part of a company that supports those with unique challenges and provide them with opportunities. I had a lovely time at the Care Leavers Awards and am excited to see the impact that we can have over time.”
Enabling space exploration
While we don’t have the ability to send children to space, we helped do the next best thing: a school trip to the National Space Centre in Leicester for 58 children from St John’s Church of England Academy.
The children enjoyed a presentation all about space and team building workshops focused on getting them ready for some space challenges. They took on the Great Rocket Challenge and succeeded: creating a rocket prototype for Earth’s first manned mission to Mars. The children designed and built rockets in small teams and then attempted to launch them on the National Space Centre’s custom launcher.
The children were also lucky enough to experience the brand-new Tetrastar Spaceport experience, taking a seat aboard the Tharsis spacecraft on a low Earth orbit cruise to see the wonders of our amazing planet.
Laura Stevenson, Headteacher at St John’s Church of England Academy, said: “Our children were thrilled to spend the day at the National Space Centre, and we were so grateful to the amazing generosity of the team at E.ON for making this happen for us. 60 of our Year 5 and 6 children took part in the trip and they were filled with awe and wonder as they explored all of the exhibits. The hands-on nature of the trip meant that every single child was engaged and involved throughout, and the staff absolutely loved their day too. Thank you again to E.ON for making this trip happen for us. We wouldn’t have been able to do this without you.”
Developing the workforce of the future
We attended a variety of career events across the city, providing everything from CV writing top tips to advice on developing the skills needed to thrive in a greener future.
Our colleagues answered questions about career opportunities at E.ON at the Job Shop’s ‘New Beginnings’ job fair and shared insight into the skills needed to deliver the energy transition and thrive in a more sustainable future at Coventry College’s Green Skills Careers Fair.
By sharing our expertise as a leading UK employer driving the energy transition to a cleaner and greener future with young people in Coventry, we hope to inspire and equip the next generation with the skills needed to build a rewarding career in the energy industry.
Looking back at these events, we’re proud of the work, and value, our teams from across E.ON and at Coventry City Council have delivered for young people across the city. And as we look forward to 2025, we’re excited about what’s yet to come for our Strategic Energy Partnership.