Young, gifted and ... unemployed? It doesn't sound right. And yet school and college leavers in Sandwell, who are ready to face and embrace working life, are coming up against increased unemployment levels and a lack of training opportunities.
The harsh reality is that there are more than 4,450 unemployed 16-24 year olds in the Sandwell area, and career opportunities for our young people are among the worst in the UK. In the past year, just over 700 of Sandwell's 16-18 year olds were not in employment, education or training. Since the latest recession began, the gap between Sandwell and the rest of England widened on people claiming out-of-work benefits.
Now, the Sandwell Partnership’s ‘Backing Young Sandwell’ initiative aims to create opportunities for school and college leavers and other young people in our borough. Driven by Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council and a range of partners (including Connexions, West Midlands Fire Service, Business in the Community, the Shaw Trust, West Bromwich YMCA, Sandwell Homes and the Hadley Group), Backing Young Sandwell aims to create 1,000 apprenticeships and 500 work placements in 2010.
And they are urgently seeking the help of local businesses to create these much-needed apprenticeships, vacancies and work placements for youngsters.