Talent Match London Launches
21 January 2014
Wednesday 22 January
Today sees the launch of a new £10m scheme from London Youth and the Big Lottery Fund which will support young Londoners into careers.
Talent Match London is a new programme designed by young people which aims to create sustainable opportunities by supporting them into training, work and careers over the next five years. It is part of the Big Lottery Fund’s £100m, nationwide Talent Match programme which is focusing on 21 youth unemployment hotspots across the country.
London Youth has spent the past 18 months working with employers, training providers, local authorities, voluntary organisations and, most importantly, young people to design Talent Match London. The programme will be led by London Youth and delivered locally by a range of partners including Community Links, Collage Arts, Hackney CVS, Gingerbread, The Prince’s Trust and 3SC.
The programme has been designed to provide not only the skills, but the confidence, resilience, networks, and the sustained backing that young people might need as they set out to navigate fulfilling career pathways. By providing personalised one-to-one support to all young people on the programme, we believe Talent Match London will help more of them achieve meaningful and sustainable jobs and opportunities and help those facing the biggest barriers to overcome them.
A study by the Centre for Economic and Social Inclusion (CESI) has estimated that almost 35,000 young people aged 18-24 in London are not claiming any out of work benefits nor accessing any training or support meaning they face severe barriers to gaining the skills they need to get onto the career ladder. In particular, young people with disabilities and childcare responsibilities experience significant additional challenges in the hunt for jobs and training.
The study also showed that on average across London Boroughs up to 30 per cent of young people who are unemployed and outside of education have some form of disability, and over a fifth have caring responsibilities.
Rosie Ferguson, Chief Executive, said: “The young people we work with across London consistently tell us that they want to learn new skills and have opportunities for fulfilling careers, but too often they struggle to find the right path. The shocking numbers revealed by the CESI study are yet more evidence of young people missing out.
“Talent Match London has been designed to provide not only the skills, but the confidence, resilience, networks, and the sustained backing that young people might need as they set out to navigate fulfilling career pathways.
By providing personalised one-to-one support to all young people on the programme, we believe Talent Match London will help more of them achieve meaningful and sustainable jobs and opportunities and help those facing the biggest barriers to overcome them."
We really hope that by creating Talent Match London with young people and by involving employers from the start, we can secure opportunities for many young Londoners and leave a legacy that can support many more.”
