What We Do
Project
Youth Employment Partnerships
The Youth Employment Partnerships (YEP) involves North of Tyne Combined Authority (NTCA), Department of Work and Pensions (DWP), Newcastle City Council, North Tyneside Council and Northumberland County Council and providers of employment and skills support.
The YEP will ensure any gaps in provision for young people are addressed, and there is additional capacity to improve engagement of young people. The activity will add value to the existing system of employment support for young people aged 16-24 – improving availability and access to employability and mental health services and indirectly positive outcomes associated with these for young people.
The partnerships will help bring together, coordinate and maximise existing capacity, and commission activity to fill gaps and will ensure:
- additional provision is provided to young people addressing any gaps in the existing support framework.
- additional capacity is provided at a local level, including through the voluntary sector, to improve the engagement of young people with existing services and support to improve reach into communities and maximise existing capacity.
- improved understanding of need and ability to meet demand for support. Insights and intelligence gathered will help NTCA and partners respond to the needs of young people.
YEP is co-designed and co-funded, with two specific areas of activity:
- Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) Small Grant Programme
The North of Tyne Combined Authority’s Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) Small Grants Programme has funded 11 experienced organisations across the region to deliver targeted, expert provision for disadvantaged young people.
The funded activity will support young people experiencing worklessness who are not currently accessing mainstream employment provision.
The projects will be delivered across Newcastle, North Tyneside and Northumberland and will aim to build skills for a diverse range of career paths to support young people’s individual ambitions. It is anticipated that the grants will support around 582 unemployed young people towards work.
Project – summaries
The project aims to bring young minority ethnic young women closer to the labour market and increase their economic resilience through one to one and group support sessions which provide goal setting support and individual learning plans.
The project will bring employers closer to those who can support learning and employment (e.g. apprenticeships). The wrap-around support will give reassurance to employers that there is additional support to deal with issues outside of their normal remit with young people who face barriers to sustaining employment. The funding will go towards 1200 hours of qualified support worker time and 300 hours for liaison with employers, education providers and other agencies.
The funding would increase capacity on both TROUPE and BTEC alternative education provision for young people aged 16-24 years old who are at risk of becoming Not in Education, Employment or Training (NEET). This includes employing a mental health and wellbeing practitioner to work with the young people and providing them with tablets and SIM cards.
Young people around the Wansbeck area will be supported by a mentor and develop an individually tailored action plan and package of support.
Participants will receive employment support which includes CV development, Individual learning Plan and support to register on job sites and apply for jobs. Some participants will also complete a research project and contribute to a report on challenges disadvantaged young people face when seeking employment.
Targets care experienced young people. Will teach young people digital and media skills, content creation in addition to CV building, job searching, budgeting and interview skills. Participants will produce a creative portfolio to gain their Level 1 OCN London certification.
Hexham Youth Initiative
Young people around the Hexham area will receive confidence building sessions and short courses, CV building and one to one support to identify and apply for opportunities. The project will work with community partners to offer work experience and volunteering opportunities.
Community based workshops and sessions to provide opportunities to engage marginalised young people in activities covering a number of areas relating to the creative industries, examples would be taster sessions in film, digital media, creative writing, social media, marketing, art so they build skills allied to their desired industry to work in.
Programme offers a residential aspect to promote team working and leadership skills, delivers life and employability skills sessions and offers young people volunteering or mentoring opportunities to support them into work. It includes a team building day in an outdoors environment, teaching budgeting and wellbeing skills, provides a first aid qualification, volunteering opportunities.
People and Drugs (Silx Teen Bar Employability Project)
Funding for detached and outreach street engagement work, as well as the one-to-one support and to link the young people to the Silx Employability Project which offers advice and support to young people aged 16-25 who are not in employment, education or training.
Courses delivered in Walkergate to address work skills, improve fitness/health and focuses on individual progression pathways, particularly for those who are among the most disadvantaged/disengaged from society, with special educational needs, disabilities and/or living in poor health.
- Capacity to support YEP partnerships
A number of posts were created to develop and expand provision within each Local Authority area. The aim of the Partnership Coordinator and Employer Engagement roles is to bring together, coordinate and maximise existing capacity within youth employment services to improve the job prospects of young people in North of Tyne, thereby preventing long term youth unemployment.
These roles will develop a coordinated employment and skills youth offer to improve the job prospects of young people, as well as engage businesses in youth employment programmes which move young people into and towards to work. This can include engaging young people in sessions and activities, and engaging and supporting employers to provide apprenticeships, traineeships, and jobs for young people through programmes such as Kickstart.
The contact details of the YEP team are below:
Newcastle
Alice.Rippon@newcastle.gov.uk – Partnership Coordinator
david.ord@ngi.org.uk – Employer Engagement
North Tyneside
Michael.kennedy@northtyneside.gov.uk – Employer Engagement
Northumberland
graeme.blyth@advancenorthumberland.co.uk – Employer Engagement
Kay.Vout01@northumberland.gov.uk – Partnership Coordinator