CARLISLE College students have been inspired by a city creative company – with exciting summer placement opportunities on offer.

Rachael Bagshaw, CEO and founder of Just R, and her team spoke to a group of art and design students on Thursday, intending to inspire the young creatives with discussions on employment opportunities in Carlisle.

Digital marketing and creative opportunities are sparse in Carlisle, and with working from home jobs becoming vastly more accessible over recent years due to the ongoing pandemic, opportunities for young people to work locally in Cumbria are needed more than ever.

Rachael spoke about her passion for creating diverse and interesting career opportunities in Cumbria, with her vision of further expanding the business to create more dynamic jobs in the northern city.

The third year art and design students were encouraged to consider their dreams for the future, with many of them expressing passion for design, film, television and gaming but feeling as though Carlisle did not offer enough variety. They couldn’t see their future in the city because of the lack of opportunity.

They heard from members of the Just R team who shared their own experiences and journeys leading up to working at the company.

The talk was organised by Alf Phillips, course leader of art and design at the college. He said: “The 'how we got here' section was really inspirational. A lot of the students talked about how Just R made it OK not to have a definite plan, but how passion for something made the difference.”