Education

Swansea students graduate from Virgin Atlantic’s ‘Passport to Change’ programme at Swansea Airport ceremony

The sky is the limit for Pentrehafod School students as they graduate from Virgin Atlantic’s flagship Passport to Change programme yesterday, funded by the Virgin Atlantic Foundation.

Published

2 months ago

13th July 2023

Editor

Students of Pentrehafod School graduated from Virgin Atlantic's Passport to Change programme .

Students graduated from the community STEM programme today, enjoying a special ceremony at Swansea Airport where Virgin Atlantic’s Chief People Officer, Estelle Hollingsworth, awarded them with certificates of completion as they presented the design of their own airlines.

Since September 2022, the students have been gaining knowledge and skills about aviation and the different roles within the industry by attending hands-on workshops, delivered by the airline’s brilliant teams from across the company. These include cabin crew, pilots, clubhouse staff, airport ground crew, finance, cargo, public relations, engineering and sustainability.

Estelle Hollingworth, Chief People Officer at Virgin Atlantic commented, “At Virgin Atlantic, we believe that everyone can take on the world. We encourage an inclusive environment where everyone feels a sense of belonging; where our people, our customers and our partners are united, and all groups are represented.

“We want the careers of the future to be inclusive to all, regardless of gender, race, or economic status. Through Passport to Change, we set out to address some of the issues preventing this by inspiring young people, from our local communities, to achieve their dreams. I am incredibly proud of our teams and all the students that have participated this year, and I congratulate them on this achievement.”

Virgin Atlantic Passport to Change programme grew from recognition of a nationwide shortage of young people applying to study subjects that fall within the STEM category: Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths. This is especially prevalent in economically deprived areas, alongside a gender imbalance of far fewer girls choosing to study STEM subjects than boys.

Virgin Atlantic delivers the programme with three charity partners; Speakers for Schools assist with the programme delivery, The Smallpeice Trust is a STEM expert partner, and the UNHCR (The UN Refugee Agency) is the airline’s international partner.

Virgin Atlantic plans to run the Passport to Change programme throughout the 2023-24 academic year.