Over 80 aspiring Cornish managers, coaches, teachers and mental health professionals gathered from across the region to get a taste of their future careers by attending free taster sessions designed to support individual professional development.

Offered as part of the ESF-funded Higher Level Skills project and delivered by Truro and Penwith College, sessions gave learners an insight into what it would be like to access or re-engage in study at a higher level.

From leadership and management to marketing and PR and from coaching and mentoring to an introduction to teaching, attendees engaged in a range of subjects with the additional opportunity to find out more about related qualifications and the support available at the TEF Gold-rated College.

People of all ages, professions and backgrounds wanting to change career paths or work towards a promotion within their current roles attended sessions with the same goal in mind: to upskill, progress and pursue their careers further.

Julie Cherry attended a free marketing and PR taster session to gain some more insight into the world of marketing and plans to attend further sessions in event management to develop her skillset. Within her current administrative role at Royal Cornwall Hospital, Julie already updates information on the website, runs social media channels for individual projects and helps to organise events and work experience. Hoping to take away some valuable skills that she could use in the workplace, she found the session to be worthwhile and informative.

Not only did attendees have the chance to learn more about specific subject areas, they could also network with other people in a similar situation to them, learning by sharing experiences.