Coronation Street backs Our Pass - as young people benefit from over 125 active opportunities

A NEW ‘Careers with Corrie’ opportunity was announced by the Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, at a special thank you event for Our Pass supporters last night (Tuesday, December 17).

Representatives from the public and private sector, who have supported Our Pass so far, joined young people at Trafford’s Hotel Football. The event highlighted the impact Our Pass is having on young people’s lives in Greater Manchester.

Young people, for a one-off £10 administration fee, have been able to take advantage of free bus travel across Greater Manchester since the start of September. Over 37,000 glossy purple cards have so far been issued, with holders making more than 3.8 million bus journeys since Our Pass launched.

As the start of December there were over 125 opportunities live on the Our Pass website, helping 16 to 18-year-olds get out and explore Greater Manchester. Since Our Pass launched some of the most popular opportunities have included promotions, offers or discounts with JD, the Greater Manchester Leisure Trusts, tickets to see Aitch in concert, O2 gigs, Manchester United and Manchester City football tickets, ATG Shows and Halle concert tickets.

Young people presented their Our Pass highlights, with a few extra surprises on the night - including the launch of a new ‘Careers with Corrie’ Our Pass opportunity.

ITV's Coronation Street is giving 10 young people the chance for a very special VIP visit to ‘the cobbles’. Not only will they get the chance to look around every corner of the nation's favourite street, they’ll also meet some of the people who make the programme and find out just what it's like to work on a show which sells to 196 territories across the world.

John Whiston, Managing Director, ITV Continuing Drama, said: “Coronation Street was the idea of Tony Warren, a working-class lad from Salford.  As we approach our 60th anniversary we’re proud of that legacy and the thousands of local people who have been employed on the show over the decades.

“Coronation Street and ITV have always supported social mobility and Our Pass takes that literally as it frees young people to get about the region and explore opportunities, whether that's for learning, finding work, getting involved in the community or just enjoying themselves.

“It’s great to be able to launch ‘Careers with Corrie’ in partnership with Our Pass, giving young people the chance to come and find out how they might be part of Coronation Street and ITV's future.”

The Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, said: “Coronation Street is a Greater Manchester institution and it’s great to be able to announce them as an Our Pass opportunity provider. The fantastic contribution of all Our Pass partners is making it possible for young people to access exciting opportunities across the city-region.

“I don’t want anyone to have their chances in life limited because they can’t afford the cost of travel or tickets. In 2016, at an event at Bury College, Olivia from the brilliant Reclaim Project told me straight: do something to help young people with the cost of transport.

“Since then young people have helped choose the name, design the card and contributed to how they wanted Our Pass to work. Now on average over 250,000 journeys per week are being made by card holders and there’s also over 125 opportunities live on the Our Pass website.”

For further information on all the offers available visit ourpass.co.uk.

Image credit: Nick Harrison

Article Published: 18/12/2019 15:15 PM