Students from Selby College have gained valuable hands-on experience planning and delivering a public event at Drax Power Station’s Skylark Centre in June, helping them develop practical skills and experience of working with a major local employer.
The project, delivered by Selby College and facilitated by Drax’s Community and Education team, was designed to provide students studying Event Management with the opportunity to plan and deliver a live event from concept through to execution.
Nick Robinson, UK Community and Education Manager at Drax, said:
“Providing meaningful opportunities for young people to develop workplace skills is an important part of our commitment to supporting the communities where we operate.
“This project gave students the chance to take ownership of a real event and experience the challenges and rewards of delivering it from start to finish. They demonstrated creativity, professionalism and strong teamwork throughout the process.
“By working directly with Drax colleagues and delivering an event for the local community, the students gained valuable experience that will support them as they progress into further education, training and employment.”
Working collaboratively in teams, the students developed event proposals for the Skylark Centre before presenting their ideas in a Dragons’ Den-style pitching session to Drax Education Ambassadors. Following the presentations, ambassadors selected the strongest proposal to be developed into a fully delivered public event.
The successful student team took responsibility for planning, promoting and delivering the event, which welcomed members of the local community to the Skylark Centre, showcasing the venue as a space for learning, community engagement and environmental education and raised £818 for the Yorkshire Children’s Charity.
Activities included nature-themed walks through the woodland surrounding the Skylark Centre, including a popular Bear Hunt trail, as well as indoor crafting activities for families. Refreshments were also available, with proceeds donated to charity.
The project gave students practical experience of event management while helping them build skills in teamwork, communication, problem solving and project delivery. It also provided valuable interaction with a local employer and increased awareness of career opportunities available across a range of sectors.
The event forms part of Drax’s wider commitment to improving access to work experience opportunities and strengthening pathways into employment for young people across the region.
ENDS
Notes to editors
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About Drax
Drax’s purpose is to enable a zero carbon, lower cost energy future. Our strategic aims are to be a UK leader in flexible, renewable generation and a global leader in sustainable biomass pellet production.
Our operations
Drax owns and operates a portfolio of flexible, low-carbon and renewable UK power assets – biomass, hydro, pumped storage and OCGT generation – which provide dispatchable power and system support services to the electricity grid.
We are the UK’s largest source of renewable power by output, and Drax Power Station is the UK’s largest single source of renewable electricity by output.
Through our pellet production facilities in North America, Drax is a leading integrated producer of sustainable biomass.
Drax supplies renewable electricity to UK industrial and commercial customers, offering a range of energy-related services including energy optimisation, as well as electric vehicle strategy and management.
As a social enterprise, core funding is essential, and we are always investigating creative ways to generate income to ensure we can have a long-term impact in Argyll and the Isles. Since 2023, the 