A programme supported by Big Local to engage younger people and help provide opportunities for volunteering, training or work readiness
When? around 2022 only
Partners: VANEL who led on the programme
Big Local North Cleethorpes has always had support for younger people as one of its core themes.
Around 2022, Big Local match funded a Youth Working Links programme led by Voluntary Action North East Lincolnshire (VANEL). Through this programme, young people from our North Cleethorpes area have been supported on a one-to-one basis to overcome life difficulties and move forward and develop.
The programme itself was aimed at young people aged 18-30 who are seeking work or training within 6-12 months and are in receipt of benefits. Funding for the main programme came via Humber Learning Consortium and the ESF Community Grants programme (in turn funded by Education Skills Fund Agency (ESFA) ).
VANEL provided the main programme and the youth workers to provide the programme but Big Local North Cleethorpes match funded the initiative for the work to take place in North Cleethorpes and to target local young people. As well as the team at VANEL, Big Local Youth Development Worker Jasmin was involved too.
Case studies
A couple of case studies provide examples of the way local young people were supported by the programme for the year it was running.
A young man was referred to the project in November 2021 and firstly met up with the Project Leader during the first week for a walk and a coffee as weather was rather bad. This young person has had an interesting life, with two different adoptive families; circumstances that were not his making but as a result of official parties making bad judgements. This sadly led to a life of insecurity, and he is now in supported single person accommodation where he lives independently but within a supportive family house. The young man was to us presented as wanting to get on with his life but unsure where to start and how to move forward; knowing he needed to get a basic skills qualification and having no clue of his future direction. We spoke to him about Franklin college courses for adults, and fact they were not on the college campus and that we would give him all the extra support he needed via the project; he began these courses in Maths and English the second week in January 2022 and is now doing very well. The Project Leader will continue to meet him on a regular basis every couple of weeks to look at ideas of what he may wish to do in the future and support him by listening to his issues and sharing ideas of where further support may be needed and is available.
A young lady was supported by the project early on in lockdown and throughout the first year of the pandemic until at 21weeks pregnant we took her off the scheme. She had presented as frightened to leave the house and was living with grandma and her very much younger brother who was junior school age and of whom she was very fond. Her life was in turmoil, and she had such serious depression that trying to get her to talk some weeks was impossible or meet up for a walk would get cancelled regularly. Once she gained a little confidence in herself and trusted pandemic situation enough to meet up with a couple of former friends she began to slowly move forward. She came into the office a couple of times to attend small group sessions, an impossible thing for her to do initially. When she was pregnant and blossomed; so much happier and has since regularly sent update pictures of her child and on how she is herself doing. The Project Leader will continue to support and encourage this young lady to maintain her more stable lifestyle and work towards finding a pathway back into paid work in the near future.
Whilst supporting young people on the programme many other young people connected to us and got involved in local projects (including Mica pictured). The programme was shortlived, very focused and only had a couple of people directly supported, but for those individual young people the helping hand provided along their life journey we believe was very important.
