“I am worried that I will not get into college or uni or get a job when I leave school” (young person aged 15).

Young people are concerned about their future; they fear they will not be able to secure work or go on to college/university in the current economic situation. 

We will continue to work with service providers to develop new training/learning opportunities and qualification opportunities, to support young people in gaining vital experience to support them into work, tackle inequalities, and achieve positive school leaver destinations. 

Key issues:

Training opportunities

We will work with partners to review existing and develop new and engaging training opportunities, which meet the needs of young people, developing the skills and confidence they need to enter the world of work.

Employment opportunities

We will work with partners to enable young people to access employment opportunities open to them, addressing issues such as work experience and presenting opportunities in different formats that young people require.

Volunteering opportunities

We will identify and promote new volunteering opportunities that support young people’s personal and social development.  We will review volunteer policies to ensure that experiences meet the needs of young people.

Support and information

We will review the ways in which young people are supported in to the world of work and informed of opportunities, to ensure equality of opportunity.

Apprenticeships

We will work with service providers to promote existing opportunities and develop new opportunities.

Community based learning

We will provide community based learning opportunities that support young people to achieve and develop their skills and confidence, and achieve their potential.

Further education

We will work with providers to support entry into further education and tackle inequality and access issues for young people.

Good practice

H2O (Heading Towards Other Opportunities) is a core programme funded by the European Social Fund (ESF) and South Lanarkshire Council that is developed specifically for young people at risk of not achieving a positive destination and young people in the MCMC (More Choices, More Chances) 16+ group who have left school.

Using a Youth Work approach, H2O is designed to give young people the opportunity to improve core skills, work with others and gain in confidence, as well as maturity, with a view to progression into further opportunities. The programme also focuses on social skills development, active citizenship and goal setting with a small focus on employability.  The programme offers the opportunity to progress onto CO3 (Continuing On To Other Opportunities), which  welcomes young people (16-19) who are not ready for employment, and require assistance with job-seeking and employability skills.

The unique aspect to the programme is that the content is tailored specifically to meet the needs of this particular group of young people and is delivered using youth work methods that will ensure their engagement, participation and the development of their learning to increase their employability.  The programme, as well as taking into account individual needs, also takes into account the aspirations of the young people involved and, as well as the more traditional aspects of employability training (CV creation, cover letter writing, skills assessment etc), it explores the fundamentals of the world of work for, and with, young people.