Lantra, the UK Sector Skills Council for environmental and land-based industries, once again threw open the doors of its Builth Wells showground offices to invite members of the public to come in and discuss their training needs and careers at the 2009 Royal Welsh Show (20-23 July).
Training providers exhibiting in the Learning Zone, hosted by Lantra, reported a good flow of people coming in to discover more about the environmental and land-based learning opportunities available across Wales. Next door’s Career Zone, which offered plenty of information about jobs in the environmental and land-based industries, also proved popular and indeed attracted some unexpected visitors – the BBC 1 Countryfile team.
Viewers of the 26 July programme were introduced to two business study students, Jake and Sadie, by presenter Matt Baker. They arrived at the show self-confessed townies, with no real knowledge of the sector, but were invited to peruse the “Jobs Board” put together by Lantra staff to demonstrate the wide variety of career opportunities available in the sector, despite the recession, and choose an industry to find out more about.
Trees and timber and equine were selected, so Lantra introduced Jake to two of the show’s exhibitors, Chris Hughes of Small Woods Services Ltd and the Forestry Commission which enabled the diversity and scope of the industry to be appreciated. Sadie was introduced to Welsh pony and cob breeder Claire Willis-Burton, who was able to give a good overview of the equine industry.
