Dan Walker visits pupils at Sheffield's Meadowhead School as part of BBC 100 Share Your Story tour

The BBC Breakfast presenter, who studied at Sheffield University and started his broadcasting career at Sheffield's Hallam FM, was at Meadowhead School on Thursday, March 17 to speak to more than 900 students there about how to get into TV and radio.

He was joined by BBC director-general Tim Davie for the sessions, which were hosted by BBC Newsround presenter Shanequa Paris.

The event was part of the BBC 100 Share Your Story tour, for which staff from the Beeb including many famous faces are visiting more than 400,000 students at 700 schools across the UK to talk about their experiences.

Tim and Dan spoke about their respective journeys into broadcasting – both in front and behind the camera – and discussed the importance of storytelling.

The range of career opportunities in storytelling at the BBC and the creative industries in Sheffield and the north of England, as well as across the UK, was also highlighted at the event.

Dan, who lives in Sheffield and often champions his home city, said: “It was great to be in Sheffield today as part of BBC 100 Share Your Story. My message to the students was that every single one of them has a story to tell and that a job like mine, Shanequa’s, or even Tim’s, is absolutely open to them.

“I’ve been told by many people over the years that certain doors would be closed to me or some things wouldn’t be possible but, if you put the hard work in and make the most of every single opportunity then there can be no stopping you. I think that’s a really powerful message for the next generation.”

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Tim said: “In our centenary year we’re looking to the next generation of storytellers, so it was fantastic to speak with so many students in Sheffield today alongside Dan and Shanequa.”

The BBC 100 Share Your Story tour, produced by BBC Children’s and Education, is designed to inspire young people to achieve their goals and help realise their ambitions.

More than 100 stories from young people will be featured by the BBC on TV, radio and online in 2022, through the BBC Young Reporter programme.