As part of Amey’s partnership with Girlguiding UK, Amey is supporting the first-ever Adventures at Home Festival this Saturday 23 May, a programme of STEM activities for girls
The festival promises an exciting programme of STEM activities for girls of all ages and their families to enjoy, during this challenging period where, due to Covid-19, many Girlguiding plans have been cancelled or postponed.
Amey’s partnership with Girlguiding is a cornerstone of our diversity strategy and it plays an important part in inspiring the next generation of female engineers into our sector and our business.
In 2018, Amey and Girlguiding collaborated to create the UK’s first-ever Engineering Badge, with a focus on rail, road, innovation, safety, diversity and inclusion. In its first year, the badge received over 120,000 requests nationally.
Amey will be supporting the event with an interactive class on how to make a bird feeder from recycled materials.
The Girlguiding UK Adventures at Home Festival already has over 10,000 people registered to attend and is open for everyone to enjoy via the Girlguiding UK website and YouTube channel.
The programme for the day includes:
A host of special celebrity guests and speakers, sports activities, arts and crafts, and story-telling, as well as classes and activities aimed at challenging girls to try something new.
It is hoped that events like this will encourage more girls to pursue STEM subjects at school and careers in science and technical fields in later life.
Gender diversity
Amey has long championed the issue of gender diversity in the infrastructure and engineering sector, with a variety of programmes and campaigns aimed at breaking down stereotypes at school age and supporting women in the workplace.
Speaking ahead of the event, Girlguiding UK’s chief guide, Amanda Medler, said: “This virtual festival is our way of saying thank you to all young people and their families for the part they are playing during these challenging times.
“We have a fantastic line-up for the day with something for all ages and hope it will help lift spirits this bank holiday weekend and give children and young people with their families a chance to join in the adventure with us, from the safety of their own homes.”
Sarah Hale, Amey’s business manager and representative at the festival, added: “We are extremely excited to be involved in Girlguiding’s first-ever virtual festival to help engage and develop the skills of young girls.
“Our partnership with Girlguiding is all about raising awareness of STEM education for young girls, both locally and nationally to inspire more girls to be part of our future talent pipelines.
“Recent figures show that just 9% of engineers in the UK are women and we hope events like this will change perceptions surrounding engineering careers and create a more gender equal sector in future.”
