Royal Air Force Air Cadets and E.ON join as members

Royal Air Force Air Cadets and E.ON  join to help drive STEM workforce

EngineeringUK has announced 2 leading organisations in the engineering and technology sector have joined as Corporate Members

E.ON, the leading energy provider, has joined its network of Corporate Members along with the Royal Air Force Air Cadets.

The organisations will work together to grow the collective impact of work across the sector to ensure more young people from all backgrounds are informed, inspired and progress into engineering and technology careers.

E.ON already proactively supports the next generation through a range of initiatives such as working with local communities including careers leaders and Enterprise Advisors in schools, offering a range of apprenticeships including degree apprenticeships where colleagues work full-time and earn a competitive salary while studying for a fully funded degree. This drives greater gender balance across its organisation and spearheading conversations around the importance of green jobs in meeting the UK’s net zero target. 

Commenting on the partnership, Helen Bradbury, Chief People Officer at E.ON UK, said: “We know that green jobs are vital in creating a more sustainable energy future, and it is absolutely crucial we bring young people on this journey with us by engaging them in STEM roles. Our work with EngineeringUK will help us to further educate and inspire the next generation about the world of engineering and the opportunities that exist within the sector.

“E.ON and our customer-facing arm E.ON Next, provides tailored energy advice, products and solutions that can help make homes, businesses and entire communities more sustainable which champions the green skills agenda.

“We are proud to offer opportunities on an equal basis to people from all walks of life and are committed to creating and maintaining a nurturing workplace environment where colleagues feel they are respected and have a sense of belonging and purpose at every stage of their career journey.”

The Royal Air Force Air Cadets also join as a Corporate Member. The Air, Space and Cyber focussed uniformed youth organisation is part of the Royal Air Force and run by a team of dedicated military and civilian staff, supported by a large cadre of brilliant volunteers who provide the backbone of the Air Cadet experience.

Commandant Air Cadets, Air Commodore Tony Keeling said: “Helping young people unlock their potential is an incredibly rewarding experience, as demonstrated by the many thousands of superb volunteers from right across the UK who freely give their time and talent towards this amazing endeavour.

“Many of our young people joined Air Cadets due to their passion for aviation, flying, and the Royal Air Force, with many pursuing these interests into further or higher education and future careers – be that in the Armed Forces or in the UK’s vibrant air, space and cyber sectors. While the aviation technology and piloting side of our aerospace offer has always been popular, the high demand and low supply of skilled engineers in the UK allows us to give our technically minded cadets real and tangible advantages in their future prospects.

Being able to work with our friends at EngineeringUK to better understand national skills shortages, to signpost Air Cadets towards education and early careers opportunities, and to help shape the development of our own training syllabus, is a huge boost to everything that the organisation aims to achieve. I am very excited by this collaboration.”

Both organisations join 30 plus other Corporate Members of EngineeringUK, which include the Met Office, National Grid ,Rolls Royce, and Siemens, amongst others. As part of this growing network of employers, members benefit from insight and analysis together with strategic support and advice, backed up by a regular communications programme and profiling opportunities.

Rebecca Everitt, Director of Business Development & Partnerships at EngineeringUK, comments “We’re delighted to welcome E.ON and the Royal Air Force Air Cadets into our community of Corporate Members. They are doing some fantastic outreach work to inspire and enable young people to progress into engineering careers and we’re very much looking forward to supporting them with this. They share our belief that by working together we can grow our collective impact and the sector can deliver a joined-up approach to tackling workforce needs.”

To find out more about how EngineeringUK can support your organisation visit: www.engineeringuk.com/membership