The teenagers on a mission to tackle gender stereotypes with Sofia

Real-world enterprise challenge to encourage more women to enter offshore wind

Teenagers taking part in the country’s flagship youth programme NCS have been given a unique insight into the growing offshore wind sector in the North East and the chance to create campaigns to encourage more women to join the industry.

NCS (National Citizen Service) have teamed up with RWE, 100% owner of Sofia Offshore Wind Farm, to create a real-world enterprise challenge that encourages participants to work creatively, hone presentation skills and start to mould their future career ambitions. For RWE, it presents the perfect opportunity to seek insights and advice from many of the young people who may join their workforce in years to come.

Now under construction, Sofia Offshore Wind Farm is one of the world’s largest single offshore wind farms. Located on Dogger Bank, 195km off the North East coast, the project’s onshore electrical infrastructure is being built in Redcar, Teesside.

Currently in the UK offshore wind market there are around 11,000 direct jobs, and many thousands more indirect roles. As a rapidly expanding sector, direct jobs are set to more than double by 2030, presenting clear opportunities for young people. However, only 18% of the workforce in the sector are women, but there are big ambitions to increase this to 40% by 2030, which is where teenagers taking part in NCS come in.

The NCS summer programme includes time away from home, completing adventurous activities, and picking up life skills before returning to your area and doing good in the community. 

Around 2,000 teenagers in the region will have the opportunity to complete an enterprise challenge where they’re tasked with creating new project ideas around developing a more diverse renewable energy workforce. The introductory video shown to the young people can be viewed here.

A winning project from each day’s activity will be put forward to RWE for an overall idea to be potentially put into practice.

Creative ideas already formed by the youngsters ranged from a weekly STEM club for young girls, to social media and TikTok campaigns, and even a Netflix-style drama series showcasing a female wind engineer. Several of the groups highlighted that more could be done to break down gender stereotypes in primary education.

17-year-old Eve Mutton, from Sedgefield, was among the first teenagers to take on the enterprise challenge. She said: “I’d realised before today that women are often under represented in areas like engineering. Something needs to change and this challenge has helped put everything in perspective for me.”

Katie Brenchley, 17 from Hartlepool, added: “It’s been really great to see plans already forming about how women can be more involved in what’s to come at Sofia Offshore Wind Farm. It’s exciting that our ideas might help them do this.”

Kirsty Beeston, North East Community Engagement Manager at NCS Trust, commented: “It’s really exciting to work with Sofia to bring a real-world issue to these young people, as well as highlight how many jobs are available in offshore wind in this region. It's a brilliant partnership which I hope will continue to grow long after the competition and we can support more young people to break the gender bias when it comes to jobs in this industry.”

Mark Gifford, CEO at NCS Trust, said: "One of the aims of NCS is to build employability and work-readiness and this innovative partnership with RWE and Sofia is an example where we are helping young people develop skills, build their confidence, break down barriers and fulfil their potential."

Zoë Keeton, RWE’s Head of Stakeholders & Local Markets UK & Ireland, said: “This NCS enterprise challenge is a fantastic opportunity for Sofia and RWE to raise awareness of the many varied roles in the offshore wind sector, allowing young people to have fulfilling careers whilst helping tackle climate change. Just as importantly the challenge will help provide invaluable input from young people into how we can attract more females into this great sector.”

Caption from left: Students Katie Brenchley and Eve Mutton discuss campaign ideas with Kirsty Beeston, North East Community Engagement Manager at NCS Trust.

BACKGROUND ON NCS:

About NCS (National Citizen Service) 

NCS is an experience like no other. Designed for 16-17 year olds (and between 18 and 24 with SEND or a disability), NCS is a youth programme that has traditionally run every summer and autumn during school holidays, and offers a range of experiences for young people throughout the year. Teens get the opportunity to mix with a new crowd, learn about independent living, take on new challenges and in the process build lifelong friendships.

The programme is all about emboldening young people – by giving them a taste of independence and equipping them with essential skills for life. Participants  then get a chance to take these new-found skills for a test-run in their local community.

Since 2009 more than 600,000 young people have taken part in NCS, completing over 15 million hours of community action, and gaining priceless life experiences.

NCS offers bursaries and support to those who need it most, including young people with special educational needs or disabilities, in line with its commitment to make the life-changing NCS experience available to every young person.

NCS delivers value for money. £3.49 of benefits to society for every £1 spent. During lockdown NCS has had over 1.7 million unique engagements with teens through its ‘Staying Connected’ hub.

About NCS Trust

NCS Trust is an Arm's Length Body of DCMS incorporated by Royal Charter and established to shape, support, champion and lead a thriving National Citizen Service. National Citizen Service Trust is registered in England and Wales with Royal Charter

To find out more visit wearencs.com