Nathan who leads the Black Heritage Mentoring programme for HEON, a programme that began at Bohunt Farnborough and has grown to include three other schools; and Gillian chair of the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) group at BMW were keen to run events that introduced students to people of Black Heritage studying at university and being successful at BMW. During the year students have taken part in team building activities, participated in resilience and wellbeing workshops and met many young apprentices, graduate trainees and senior staff to learn from them what it takes to be successful and live a rewarding life.
In addition to talking about their career path and current role, all contributors emphasised enjoying life and seizing the opportunities that come your way. Students have toured the BMW site, seen some amazing cars, visited colleges including Merrist Wood College and taken part in workshops at school too. We are immensely grateful to Nathan and his team and Gillian and her BMW staff – all have been so generous with their time, experience and knowledge. Students have had a fabulous time and grown in confidence. Even to set foot in the UK Head Office of BMW is a huge confidence boost. All students have represented themselves and Bohunt Farnborough excellently. At the last visit students were presented certificates which acknowledged not only their participation in the programme, but each certificate included flags representative of their cultural heritage – a really thoughtful gesture.
