John Stevenson, True North Chairman and former MP for Carlisle has announced his 13th annual Carlisle Skills Fair, to be held at Carlisle College on Thursday January 21 2027. The event will run from 2pm to 6.30pm and aims to bring job seekers together with skills providers and employers and last year’s event attracted over 2,500 visitors.
John commented “I’m delighted to say that the annual Carlisle Skills Fair is very much a permanent fixture in the diary of many Cumbrian people and businesses and I’d like to see this happening in every area across the region. True North recently held an event examining what can be done to get more young people into meaningful employment and one of the key conclusions was that we need more business, education and young people themselves.
Alan Milburn MP’s 2026 interim report on young people and work calls the UK’s rising NEET (not in education, employment or training) figures an urgent national crisis, yet having recognised the gap, here we are 13 years later, still doing all we can to bring job seekers, and young people in particular, together with skills providers and employers with the jobs of the future.”