A day in the life
Automation engineer Edwin McArthur gave three graduates an insight into life as a Royal Mail engineer at Mount Pleasant mail centre.
The graduates had recently completed a leadership and personal development course known as the ‘Ether Programme’, delivered by Wipers Youth - a social enterprise, which specialises in working with disadvantaged young people.
The young graduates were given a personal tour and exploration of the automation equipment, processes and procedures within the mail centre.The aim of the day was to raise awareness among the attendees that pathways toward engineering careers and beyond are both open and achievable.
Edwin, who has worked for Royal Mail for more than 15 years, said: ‘It was a pleasure to share some time with these young people and show them the ins and outs of what an automation engineer does. I was really impressed with their questions and rapid comprehension, especially for their age.’
Edwin started out as an engineering apprentice. He is now an EngTech member of the Institute of Engineering & Technology and will graduate from the first cohort of the Engineering Development Programme this month. The focus of the programme is to provide a platform and a progressive path into senior levels of management.
‘I’m really grateful for the opportunity,’ said Edwin. ‘I feel that due to my ethnicity and hairstyle choice, I perhaps don’t fit into a particular “model” of what an engineer or senior manager looks like.
‘It’s important for others not to limit themselves by other people’s visions. I think that positive everyday role models should be accessible. By hosting these graduates, I discovered that such a progressive career journey is available to anyone if they see and hear the right things from a young age, regardless of where one’s journey has started.’
Sammy Odoi, managing director of Wipers Youth, accompanied the young people and said: ‘This was a wonderful opportunity for the boys to get an insight into the world of work and support their ambitions and motivation to progress and achieve in life.
‘There are lots of young people who never get the chance to do work experience at school due to one reason or another. Sometimes their confidence can take a knock and without positive reinforcement and opportunities to physically see what they can become, they can easily start to doubt their value and ability to move forward in life. That’s why it was so priceless for the boys to see and hear from Edwin and get a vision of a future they can attain. They really enjoyed it!’
Edwin said he hopes to be able to continue to offer similar opportunities to more young people in the future. ‘I would like to see more of these young people increase their confidence and self-esteem through initiatives like this,’ he said.
‘Who knows, maybe one of them could get an apprenticeship and start their career with Royal Mail in the future. Through hard work and dedication, anything is possible!’
