Global Marine Systems Limited recently teamed up with the Sir Thomas Lipton Foundation to share its maritime experience and to encourage youngsters to consider future careers at sea. The Sir Thomas Lipton Foundation has been successfully delivering the Buoyed Up scheme to young people throughout Australia and Scotland since 2010 with this year’s programme marking the first of its kind in England.
Alongside classroom sessions and experiences on the water, the Buoyed Up scheme aims to bring Sir Thomas Lipton’s drive, enthusiasm, passion and flair for business to life through practical experiences in enterprise and encounters with inspiring individuals who have made the sea their life. Global Marine was approached by the charity as leaders in their field, many of whom have substantial years of experience in the maritime industry, to take part in the World of Work element of the scheme and to share new ideas and motivation with children for their futures.
In June, 24 year six students, ages 10 to 11, visited from Frobisher Primary School along with their teachers and spent the day at the Global Marine Head Office in Chelmsford. The day began with an introduction from Captain Shaun Beal, an active master aboard Global Marine’s fleet of seven vessels. Captain Beal spoke to the students about the business, the breadth of services and the careers accessible through the industry and his path from starting as a cadet through to gaining his captains epaulettes.
The year six children, all about to embark on life at secondary school, were able to watch a fibre optic cable splice in action as well as learn about how the cable ships and other tools on the vessels work, all facilitating the world to be connected via telephone and internet; something so familiar to all of them. As well as the engineering side of the business, the children also participated in interactive quizzes, testing their world-wide geography knowledge, as well as logical thinking in the form of rope games. As a commercial twist on the day, the company’s marketing team shared some of the techniques used by the business to help promote themselves, something critically important to all organisations; including animations, holograph technology and even the company app bringing the vessels and subsea assets to life.
Miss Herbert, year six teacher at Frobisher School said, “We want to thank Global Marine and the Foundation hugely for the inspiring and motivational day the children spent with them. Taking part in the Buoyed Up initiative fits nicely with the school’s vision of Aim High, Work Hard, Achieve Together. We believe that getting involved in the Sir Thomas Lipton charity will potentially open new doors for the children and enthuse them about their futures. The visit to Global Marine has done just that.”
Laurence Brady from the Sir Thomas Lipton Foundation added, “Our Buoyed Up programme is all about raising the aspirations of pre-teenage children in economically deprived areas through practical experiences of sailing, marine enterprise and the life of Sir Thomas Lipton. It was fantastic to see how the children of Frobisher Primary responded to the eye-opening deep sea workshops and activities at Global Marine. This World of Work experience is a critical part of Buoyed Up. I greatly appreciate the consideration, preparation and generosity of Global Marine for their day with the children, and I very much hope we will continue to work together to inspire more Frobisher Primary pupils.”
Ian Douglas, CEO Global Marine concluded, “At Global Marine, we are keen to encourage education in support of creating a long-term sustainable maritime industry. We have enjoyed working with the Sir Thomas Lipton Foundation and meeting the children from the Frobisher Primary school.”
