The Opportunity Centre
Social Enterprise, Bradford United Kingdom
Partner in International Projects
Partner since: 2020
Partner in International Projects
Partner since: 2020
Description
The Aspire-Igen Group is the largest careers and training organisation in the Yorkshire region (an area with a population of over 5 million). The group is a not-for-profit social enterprise with 22 years’ experience of supporting young people and adults into employment. Levels of social deprivation in Yorkshire are among the worst in the UK, with widespread pockets of exclusion and unemployment. The group supports social inclusion and regeneration by providing a range of guidance and training services. This includes delivering vocational training programmes for NEET young people to prepare them for entry into the labour market and offer careers advice in 28 schools in the region
Projects
Testimonials on the Internship
Although delivered remote, my internship experience at Aspire-igen (The Opportunity Centre) UK has proven to be very useful and fruitful. I was mostly involved in research and project management activities, such as: conducting desk research and interviews, participating in kick- off and monthly meetings, carrying out research activities for several Erasmus+ projects Aspire-igen is coordinating and participating in, compiling drafts for national/ EU reports and financial reporting.
As Aspire-igen is at the moment involved in many EU projects, being the coordinator for most of them, I had the chance of analysing different aims and priorities addressed in these. The projects I worked on target education and social inclusion of disadvantaged young people in VET and minority groups and this is a relevant background for me, as I am interested in societal topics. Moreover, all projects address the topic of innovation in delivering the project results.
All members of the team were very friendly and welcoming and those whom I worked more closely with have become my mentors in the management of EU projects. Following the end of the internship, I have been offered a temporary position as a Project Assistant for the Aspire-igen International team and since then I have become responsible for two of their projects. I sincerely recommend carrying out your internship at Aspire-igen and even more so if you have the chance to attend in person.
by Alina Natalia C. (Romania)
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Partner Testimonials
Gareth Long
Bradford (United Kingdom)
Aspire-igen International Manager in The Opportunity Centre I have known Elisabetta Delle Donne, the President of Pixel, since 1998 and we have worked together on many European projects in the period since and she has established the organisation as one of the leading players in the transnational cooperation field, so we were very happy to offer a participant in Pixel’s European Project Masters’ course an internship at Aspire-igen. As a host organisation, we have gained much from the contribution of the intern to the work of the international team. She has been involved at numerous levels of project activity, from initial knowledge-gaining through participation in meetings and studying project applications and reports, to taking over the management of several of our projects when one of the team left for work elsewhere. Such was the high level of her performance and her vital contribution to the team effort, we were happy to offer her a short-term contract after her internship, which has recently been extended further. It is clear to us that the Masters’ Course run by Pixel prepares the participants very thoroughly for all aspects and challenges of coordinating such initiatives, so much so that despite her having to work remotely as she is based in Romania, she was able to take on demanding tasks immediately and perform research and report writing to an impeccable standard. The overall experience has been an extremely positive one for all concerned and we would recommend to any organization to consider taking on one of Pixel’s interns as we know from our own experience just how beneficial it can be.
Bradford (United Kingdom)
Aspire-igen International Manager in The Opportunity Centre I have known Elisabetta Delle Donne, the President of Pixel, since 1998 and we have worked together on many European projects in the period since and she has established the organisation as one of the leading players in the transnational cooperation field, so we were very happy to offer a participant in Pixel’s European Project Masters’ course an internship at Aspire-igen. As a host organisation, we have gained much from the contribution of the intern to the work of the international team. She has been involved at numerous levels of project activity, from initial knowledge-gaining through participation in meetings and studying project applications and reports, to taking over the management of several of our projects when one of the team left for work elsewhere. Such was the high level of her performance and her vital contribution to the team effort, we were happy to offer her a short-term contract after her internship, which has recently been extended further. It is clear to us that the Masters’ Course run by Pixel prepares the participants very thoroughly for all aspects and challenges of coordinating such initiatives, so much so that despite her having to work remotely as she is based in Romania, she was able to take on demanding tasks immediately and perform research and report writing to an impeccable standard. The overall experience has been an extremely positive one for all concerned and we would recommend to any organization to consider taking on one of Pixel’s interns as we know from our own experience just how beneficial it can be.