Positive for Youth was co-produced through an extensive collaboration across the public, voluntary and private sectors, and with the direct involvement of young people. In order to continue this collaboration, the Minister is reconvening a cross sector group of stakeholders to take stock of progress six months on from its publication last December.

Leaders from the corporate world came together on Wednesday (28.3.12) to discuss how they can increase the level of business support that is offered to youth organisations in England. O2’s Chief Executive Ronan Dunne hosted a consultation event to launch United Futures, a new campaign that will break down barriers between businesses and the youth sector.

“At Telefónica we have a great passion and proven track record in working with and championing young people and the organisations that support them. There is a real, current social need for other businesses to do the same, as young people in the UK suffer under the strain of these tough economic times.” Ronan Dunne, CEO, O2 in the UK.

Senior figures from other corporates such as Accenture, HSBC, JP Morgan, Samsung and Visa are also taking part as well as those representing smaller businesses. They were joined by youth sector leaders and young people who gave an insight into how businesses can best get involved.

United Futures is being led by three charities (Business in the Community, The National Children’s Bureau and UK Youth) and the services that it is focusing on support young people outside school. These are run by Local Authorities and the voluntary sector.

“If you consider that young people spend just 20% of their time at school it is easy to understand why these services are really important. We want to find out what the organisations that run them need from businesses and likewise promote the business benefits of supporting local young people.” Charlotte Hill, Chief Executive, UK Youth.

Research demonstrates a clear link between the amount of contact young people have with employers and their likelihood of finding work. Over a quarter (26%) of young people classified as ‘Not in employment, education or training’ (NEET) had no experience of employer engagement, compared with just 4% of those who had four or more contacts with business*.

The group leading United Futures will assess what kind of support youth sector organisations need and also what businesses have to offer. Once this has been established outreach events will be held across England and online resources made available to help bring about new mutually beneficial partnerships.

Ronan Dunne further explained his involvement in United Futures by adding “Business already offers support to in-school activities but there is more it can do outside formal education. United Futures will help us as a business community to achieve this and I truly believe we have to work in collaboration to make a difference. This event presents an exciting opportunity for us all to contribute our valuable insights and experience to inform the United Futures campaign.”

Another recent survey found that 42% of young people aged 11-18 have had no contact with employers in the previous two years**.

Article below from the school…

THE COWPLAIN LEGACY GROUP

The Cowplain Legacy Group started in September 2011 and is a team of Year 8 students working with staff from Cowplain Community School, Xyratex and The Legacy Project to develop skills and create a lasting legacy for the community.

Initially the group interviewed members of the public to identify possible projects to develop for the future.  Last term the students worked in small groups to identify ways to raise money for charities of their choice before pitching their ideas to a panel of judges from Havant Borough Council, Xyratex, Scribble and Extended Services.

The judges awarded start-up funding to a group of students proposing to hold a bake sale in aid of The Rowans Hospice.  The whole Legacy group then worked together to raise £170 by selling a variety of cakes to students and staff at Cowplain Community School.

The judges were so impressed with another proposal that they decided to also support a team of students who wanted to assist the City of Portsmouth Dog Kennels by providing gift bundles for the stray dogs.  With the help of staff at Havant Borough Council and Xyratex, the girls raised £270 enabling them to donate essential equipment for the kennels together with a bundle of goodies for each of the 16 dogs and puppies.

The Cowplain Legacy group is committed to leaving a legacy and is about to start the main project which will run throughout the spring and summer terms. This project aims to develop a piece of land known as Borrows Field into an area for use by the community.  The girls have planned the site to be accessible to those with restricted mobility and have included picnic benches, sensory plants, seating, wild flowers, hard pathways and living willow structures.  The students will also be providing alternative resting places by designing and making wooden bird and bat boxes.

If you would be interested in supporting the group, either by donating your time, expertise or necessary equipment, please contact me at the school.

Miss N Craven, Business & Enterprise Coordinator, Cowplain Community School

023 9261 2020 or nickic@cowplainschool.co.uk

The Community Challenge

‘We are Havant Borough Youth Council (HBYC)! We are embarking on a project that hopes to gather the views of young people and parents across Havant Borough who may feel they are unable to access mainstream activities and leisure opportunities. As part of our learning we are trying to gather as many views from young people about their communities in order for us to see if there are any gaps. We would like to gather evidence from questionnaires and film the young people, parents, carers and teachers that we meet during our project in order to gain as broader picture as possible, We are hoping that the finished film will be showcased to schools and decision makers and we are hoping to gain support from our Local Councillors to see if our project can make some kind of provision to address the gap(s) we identify. This will be our Legacy.’

Written by Lucy, Steph, Isabel, Charlotte, Charlie, Harry and Steven.

This article was written by Youth council members to explain the project that they have decided to work on. They are working with the Legacy Project and business mentors from Xyratex. The journey began when they decided they wanted to ‘give back’ something to the community in order ‘myth bust’ the negative stereotypes that surround young people.

The youth council have started to work with Glenwood School, The Starlight Group and Parent Voice. They have begun to film their findings and have created an online questionnaire.