University graduate Tim Surrey has been rubbing shoulders
with world dignitaries while attending an inaugural world
summit.
Tim, 25, of Linthorpe, Middlesbrough, was
chosen to attend the first ever One Young World global leadership
summit, which brought together young people aged 25 and under from
all of the world’s 192 countries to address major challenges.
The opportunity to attend the two day London
event arose through Tim’s work with leading welfare to work
provider Working Links where he holds the position of Graduate
Trainee Manager.
Tim, who graduated from Northumbria University
in 2006 with a degree in IT, said: “It was a fantastic opportunity
and experience and was a really inspiring couple of days.”
Along with other delegates, Tim heard speeches
from South African cleric Desmond Tutu, campaigner Sir Bob Geldof
and Mayor of London Boris Johnson, Nelson Mandela’s former lawyer
Nick Haysom, former presidential candidate Senator John Kerry and
former president of Peru Alejandro Toledo as well as taking part in
a series of discussions and debates.
Tim added: “The speeches set the tone and
agenda for the two days and I was amazed at the diverse number of
delegates from around the world who were attending the event. On
the first day I even managed to grab a chat with AC Milan
footballer and ambassador for many charities Clarence Seedorf - a
real personal highlight for me.
“What I found astounding was a majority of the
speeches were from ‘normal’ delegates such as myself who had been
selected by One Young World to give a presentation. However these
were certainly not only normal people, I was blown away by what
these young people had personally achieved in their lives already,
the work they were doing for their country and what they had to
say.”
Tim spoke about the work of his employer,
Working Links, in a session about global businesses trying to
improve their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).
He added: “When chatting to other delegates
after the session on the role of global businesses I was proud to
say that I worked for Working Links and as we are company based on
values we were already heading in the right direction. I felt that
when I was talking to people from around the world about Working
Links they really understood and were impressed by our values and
CSR.”
Working Links tackle social exclusion
throughout the UK and abroad through the power of employment and
have helped 130,000 people back into work over the last ten years.
Currently, the organisation is getting one person into work every
four minutes of the working day.
The final day saw delegates take part in a
debate broadcast live on BBC World Service with Tim making a point
to other attendees and up to 60 million listeners.
He added: “The subject had steered towards
profit and one of my fellow delegates from China was making a point
around all profit leading to corruption. I simply didn’t agree and
a moment later found myself challenging him live on radio. I made a
point that profit is not a dirty word as long as it’s not made in a
dirty way and went on to explain that I was from the welfare to
work industry and our profit is measured by how many people we have
helped.”
To find out more about Working Links, please
call us on 0800 917 9262 or contact us.