Inspiring Futures hold first on-site careers day to showcase Estates and Facilities
On Thursday 5 June 2025, GMMH welcomed students from The Derby High School in Bury, for the first ever on-site careers event, showcasing our Estates and Facilities services.
The event, hosted by Inspiring Futures, alongside members from the Capital, Estates and Facilities (CEF) team, provided a first-hand insight into working within these services, while also challenging the students to think about the vital role CEF teams play in providing a safe and welcoming environment for our service users to receive care.
Kelly Abbott, who leads on our Widening Participation activity, shared the motivation behind the event, stating:
“This on-site Careers Day has been seven years in the making. We wanted to find a special way to celebrate our amazing CEF staff for Estates & Facilities Day on 18 June, and we thought that showcasing them to our younger generation would be a wonderful idea, so they got to co-create our VERY first event.
Fifteen year-nine students from The Derby School attended on the day and were eager to get involved with the wide-range of interactive activities organised by the team.
Which included a Guess Who-inspired game, where students could match colleagues facilitating the event to their role in the CEF directorate. Followed by Higher or Lower, which illustrated the impact Estates and Facilities teams have on the day-to-day operation at GMMH, from how many preventative maintenance actions were completed this year, to the total number of meals that were prepared and served for patients.
After the students had learnt what life in the Estates and Facilities looked like, they had the opportunity to get hands-on and have a go at some of the tasks undertaken in the different career options within the service.
Activities included fire safety, where students were able to simulate extinguishing an electrical fire, a hands-on plumbing and pipework challenge, a lesson in how to design room layouts, creative cake decoration and the opportunity to test out some carpentry tools.
While our gardening workshop offered attendees the chance to really get their hands dirty. All before cleaning up via the hand hygiene station, highlighting how our CEF teams keep our sites safe.
Joining the students on the day was The Derby’s Student Aspiration Lead, Paul Kerr, who shared after the event:
“The event has completely exceeded my expectations, and we would love to continue working with the Trust on future events.”
The students were also keen to share their positive feedback on the day, highlighting the engaging nature of the event and the invaluable insight it provided on the different CEF roles on offer. All attendees also stated that they would like to return for future careers events at GMMH, to learn about the different career options available at the Trust.
Reflecting on the success of the day, Marc Reed, Director of Capital Estates and Facilities, shared:
“This event has been a fantastic opportunity to provide an insight into the workings of a Capital, Estates and Facilities team, and showcase these services that have a career pathway in the NHS, outside of the traditional doctors and nursing routes”.
Plans are already in motion to host similar career events at GMMH, as Kelly Abbott stated the importance of showcasing our services on-site:
My goal is to inspire people, not just to pursue a career, but to become curious and excited about GMMH. When we present our roles in neutral environments, we miss the chance to highlight what makes GMMH special and can't quite evoke the same sense of wonder or curiosity about our roles specific to our environments. Events like these are how we can ensure a bright future for our workforce.”
