Ideal Heating apprentices go the extra mile to inspire young people

Leading Hull-based business Ideal Heating is celebrating a major milestone in its commitment to inspiring the next generation, thanks to the outstanding fundraising efforts of its apprentices.

Ideal Heating has become a Bronze Partner of Hull and East Yorkshire (HEY) Children’s University and marked the achievement with a special business experience day at its headquarters in National Avenue, Hull.

It involved 30 Year Five pupils from Alderman Cogan Primary in Hull enjoying an action-packed day of activities designed to showcase exciting future career opportunities available in their city. 

HEY Children’s University is a charity which aims to build the confidence, self-esteem and aspirations of young people by providing them with a diverse range of experiences outside the classroom, working particularly with children from disadvantaged areas of Hull and East Yorkshire. 

Ideal Heating’s four engineering services apprentices – Lewis Speedy, Aaron Snell, Samuel Hatch and Alistair Swyer – took on the challenge of raising the £2,000 needed to secure Bronze Partnership status. 

Each apprentice ran 50 kilometers over the course of just one week, totaling an impressive 200 kilometers between them, and raising £1,185 through sponsorship by colleagues. Combined with funds already raised by the company, this achievement unlocked the Bronze Partnership and funding for additional experience days. 

Apprentice Lewis Speedy said: “We’re absolutely delighted to have achieved Bronze Partnership status with HEY Children’s University. It means so much to us to be able to give back to our local community and help inspire young people in Hull.

“The 200km run was definitely a challenge – especially for those of us who weren’t runners before we started. But knowing we were doing it to help provide opportunities for local children kept us going. 

“The support from our colleagues across Ideal Heating was incredible, and we’re so grateful for their generosity in sponsoring us.”

During the visit, pupils from Alderman Cogan CofE Primary Academy, in Whitworth Street, east Hull, were treated to a comprehensive tour of Ideal’s impressive manufacturing operations, followed by presentations about the variety of career opportunities available at the domestic and commercial heat specialist. 

The day’s activities were led by Ideal Heating’s apprentices, who shared their own journeys into the world of work and demonstrated that highly-skilled, rewarding careers are both realistic and achievable. 

Ideal Heating employs around 1,100 people, with 800 of those in Hull, and has been based in the city since the business was founded in 1906. The company is the UK heating market leader and is at the forefront the industry’s transition to low carbon solutions. 

Sarah Brodie, Partnerships Manager at HEY Children’s University, said: “The work experience day at Ideal Heating showcased to the children a wide range of career opportunities and pathways through hands-on activities and real-world scenarios.

“The impact this day will have on the children would be impossible to achieve by staying in the classroom. Being inside a real workplace and meeting such inspiring role models can be transformative for some of these children.”