As youth unemployment hits a 23 year high it feels just to ask the question – why aren’t the various programmes and initiatives working? Perhaps even more importantly here in east London – one of the few places in the UK that is clearly still growing – why aren’t local young people sharing in the opportunities being created around them?
Here are at Renaisi we think it’s time to take a new approach. The 2012 Olympic Games, its subsequent legacy and Tech City are new initiatives, when combined with existing business success in cultural and digital industries, present a very real opportunity for improving the employment and social mobility opportunities for young people. East London, unlike many areas in the rest of the country, continues to grow and create new jobs and opportunities for young people in these important sectors of the economy. The problem is they often appear to be out of the reach for local youngsters who we know have the qualifications and aspiration but are often over looked because of their postcode. At the same time we know employers in digital and tech industries in the area, and in the city, find it difficult to find the people with the right skills. So there’s a gap to be bridged between talented local young people who are disconnected from opportunities and local businesses who need skilled people to remain competitive.
We think now is the time to develop new approaches to bridge this ‘opportunity’ divide and enable local businesses to prosper AND local people benefit. We believe the current interest in Apprenticeships, when combined with successful social mobility models such as ‘Year Up’ from the USA, could create powerful new ways of opening up opportunities to local young people. That’s why we’ve launched today a ‘think piece’ that seeks to understand the problem and think through some of the solutions. We want to use this to start a debate in east London about how public agencies, social enterprise and the private sector (large and small) can work together to ensure we provide local young people the opportunities they deserve and their capabilities and ambition means more than their postcode.
Join the debate on our blog
Find out more about Year Up in the states here
Notes on a Neighbourhood: an emerging guide for practice
