Greetings to all our friends and supporters! I wanted to take a moment to reflect on our highlights of 2018 and to thank everyone for their support this year.
It has been an incredible year for Youth Employment UK. I am hugely proud of our accomplishments, and of my team who really do go the extra mile to deliver against our very important agenda.
Before I share our 2018 highlights, it is my pleasure to announce that our Operations Director Lauren Mistry gave birth to a gorgeous baby boy on Saturday. Lauren and family are doing just great – and we are delighted to have a new member join the Youth Employment UK family. What a way to finish the year!
Here are some of the key achievements we have made against our three core priorities in 2018:
To give young people a voice and empower them to be more prepared for the world of work
- The successful launch of the Youth Voice Census, which will now run annually
- More than 300,000 young people have accessed our skills and career resources
- We have engaged with even more schools and colleges to embed the Young Professional programme into their curriculum
- Our Ambassadors finished the year with some great new training to support them in their roles in 2019
To help organisations be better equipped to support young people and adopt youth friendly principles
- We have supported employers such as McDonald’s, Coca-Cola European Partners, St. James’s Place and many more with the Youth Friendly Employer Award, helping them to develop and be recognised for an inclusive and diverse youth employment strategy
- What Makes Work Experience Work? We have co-created content with our Ambassadors to support better work experience placements including employer guides, student workbooks and many more tools
- We have announced partnerships with WorldSkills UK and Sport Leaders UK which aim to further enhance our skills, careers and Youth Friendly Employer Award offers.
To ensure that government policy is geared towards the real needs of young people
- Our policy, research and expertise has grown as we have led key reports on The Role of the Family in Social Mobility, Supporting those Furthest From the Labour Market and Work Experience
- Three inquiries launched and delivered through the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Youth Employment, each receiving Ministerial and Civil Servant support
- We have supported DfE, ESFA, DCMS and DWP with campaigns and a number of consultations
- We held the first of a series of Civil-Service round-tables bringing together colleagues from across government with a youth policy remit to share their initiatives
- We have provided significant support to the Cabinet Office Inclusive Economy Partnership
- We have met and had endorsement from Rt Hon Damian Hinds MP, Rt Hon Anne Milton MP and Rt Hon Nadhim Zahawi MP
Youth unemployment remains a challenge in the UK; none of us can predict what the next few years will look like for young people, not least because of the unprecedented political climate and the changing policy landscape. Add to this that youth unemployment remains three times higher than any other group, and young people’s confidence and wellbeing is at an all time low, and we know our work could not be more important.
We have some ambitious goals for 2019 and would be very happy to talk to you to discuss how we could achieve more together.
Until then, I would love to take this opportunity to wish each and every one of you a very Merry Christmas. Have a happy, healthy and prosperous 2019!
LJ
