YEUK Ambassador –  Paul James Cashman-Roberts (17)

I attended the Wey Valley School and Sports College where I attained 12 GCSE’s at a good level. I’m now currently studying Politics at Budmouth Sixth Form and working towards going to university to study politics and anthropology.

Weymouth as a town has many resources such as Steps and Waves which are groups that are working to improve the quality of life and create equal opportunity for young people in the area; these groups are easily accessible for young people and widely advertised in schools and community centres. There are also annual careers, training and apprenticeships fairs that strive to educate people on other options than university however these fairs also help those who are looking to go to university but need help with a personal statement or just need guidance on what to expect after they finish further education.

I became involved in local projects and Youth Employment UK because I feel that the media and social stereotypes severely demoralise young people.  A perfect example of this was the Guardians article about Weymouth (where I live) titled “Sun, sand and inequality” less than a week later and wave after wave of emails and tweets to the Guardian from offended teenagers (which the article specifically mentions) and residents we got a new and more accurate article about Weymouth published called “Yes, Weymouth has its problems. But ‘cultural wasteland’? ‘Graveyard of ambition’? Definitely not”.

From my point of view the prospects for young people in Weymouth are very good mainly due to our fantastic award winning school/colleges and charitable organisations doing all they can to help young people on their way to better and  greater things.  Whether that is going to university or setting up a local business which many have done. Furthermore our local council seems very interested in us as young people in Weymouth especially since some of them have worked or still do work in our schools one of them being my politics teacher who inspires us and help us achieve our goals.

While some people live in areas where there are organisations to help young people many don’t know about them or can’t find them and this is why Youth Employment UK is here to inspire young people and nurse that little spark in their brain that just says you can do it.