“Before starting with Springboard, I had recently finished my GCSE’s and was completely unsure of the path I wanted to take or what I wanted to do as a career. I discovered the 2-week programme after being sent a Facebook post that Becky had created and both me and my friend signed up for it. The programme was appealing to me as I wanted to gain more experience and I was interested in knowing more about the hospitality industry.

While on the programme I acquired many skills such as employability skills, practical skills and I was provided with help and guidance with any questions that I had. I also got help in writing and creating my CV which I was struggling with beforehand.

Doing this course helped me gain confidence and made me more motivated. It allowed me to learn more about the industry which was extremely helpful as before joining this course I really struggled with my confidence and after this course I have noticed tremendous improvements in my confidence and overall motivation. I also really enjoyed the range of experiences; they were new to me and I got to try many new things as the course had so many things to offer. On one of our industry visits, I got to try Latte Art!

My favourite thing from the course was meeting the people -everyone was friendly and helpful, and I made many good friends. At the start, I was really anxious about meeting so many new people, however it was absolutely fine.  Our trainer was so supportive, and she made everyone feel comfortable which helped me a lot. Human Bingo on the first day was a great ice-breaker!

After the first week of the course I was sent to a workplace for a week to gain experience in a job. I went to the Hilton Hotel in Cardiff where I worked as a Food and Beverage Assistant. I thoroughly enjoyed it and was so lucky to be offered a job there afterwards. When starting the course I didn’t expect to have a job by the end of it! I enjoyed every part of it.

I encourage others to do this programme as it has helped me so much in such little time and provides so many opportunities to many people. It can help people for different reasons; not knowing what they want to do, wanting to start work but unsure where, wanting to learn more, building confidence or helping if you are lacking motivation.”