Work, training, and mentoring for 16-25 year-olds
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Our mission is to be the “rainmaker” proactively ensuring that there is the work and training to help the young people of the UK, building on government initiatives like Kickstart, so they have purpose, knowledge, and opportunity in their lives. The aim is to avert the calamity of as many as a million young people being unemployed in the years ahead.
We intend to achieve this by both campaigning to raise public awareness of the extent of the crisis and thus the need for an aggressive response, and collaborating with all those – central and local government, business, youth charities - to shape whatever programme they plan so that it incorporates work, training or mentoring offers for 16 to 25 year olds. Like Kickstart, work placements should always be accompanied by the minimum wage.
What sets the National Youth Corps (NYC) apart from past and current government-backed employment schemes?
The NYC is to be led and directed by young people, for young people – as proposed in the Kruger Review welcomed by the Prime Minister. We want Britain’s young adults to feel that they are contributing to the recovery of Britain’s economy, through being entrusted to marshal tasks and projects for the young from whatever quarter - business, local government, and the third sector. Aside from work, we also want to address long-standing skill gaps and help young people from even the most disadvantaged backgrounds discover and solidify their skills, increase their networks, and help gain confidence. This can be achieved through ensuring that mentoring and training is incorporated in any offer of work.
The government is right to recognise the risk of a huge spike in youth unemployment over the next eighteen months. However, the national conversation needs to be more urgent. The promise must be that no-one will be left behind.
