12 Aug Youth Unemployment: Why There Is Good Reason For Hope

Alan Milburn’s interim report, Young People and Work, is not a comfortable read. It paints a stark picture of the growing number of 16–24-year-olds in England who are NEET (Not in Education, Employment or Training), highlighting complex social challenges and the systemic failures of successive governments that have led us here. It is sobering; it is overwhelming.

But the report also offers hope. Milburn writes: “the reason to be optimistic is young people themselves”. If you’re willing to look, there are plenty of examples of that here in Torbay.

Just recently I watched a Sound Communities Skate Jam at Parkfield. Children, teenagers and young adults cheered each other on as skaters, scooter riders and BMXers took turns on the ramps. It was a simple but powerful example of sharing a space with warmth, kindness and encouragement.

Think too about last year’s Children & Young People’s Awards. 42 young people were nominated for making a meaningful difference to their communities, often despite significant challenges of their own. Or Powered by Youth, where young people confidently spoke about what matters to them and held honest, constructive conversations with council leaders and decision-makers. This VCSE designed mechanism to hear directly from young people in Torbay and the support they need to navigate life’s challenges has a wider ambition to make our young people in Torbay more resilient, more connected, more hopeful.

But there is another reason to be hopeful in Torbay: our vibrant Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) sector itself.

The Milburn report notes young people’s “strengths had gone unnoticed and overshadowed by the labels attached to them”. Our VCSE organisations not only recognise those strengths but help develop them.

Take the recent Tor-VYBZ festival, delivered by Sound Communities. Around 70 young people – many of whom were NEET – planned, set up, delivered and performed Torbay’s first youth-led grass roots music festival. Or The Children’s Society, whose one-to-one relational support helps young people better understand themselves, build self-esteem and reduce anxiety, enabling them to reconnect with others, embrace new opportunities and find work. And Eat That Frog’s Youth Hub, which provides mentoring, personalised support and access to opportunities for 16-24-year-olds.

Then there’s Taleblazers, where young people who often arrive feeling overwhelmed by environmental challenges leave with a renewed sense of purpose, stronger connections with nature and skills that lead towards green careers. Or One Space, a community drop-in for 16 to 25-year-olds, by 16 to 25-year-olds. Given Milburn’s report highlights

people aged 16–29 are more than twice as likely to experience persistent loneliness as those over 70, spaces like this have never been more important.

These examples are just a snapshot. There are more than 50 VCSE organisations across Torbay helping young people find belonging, build confidence and strengthen resilience.

That work also extends beyond individual organisations. Right now, considerable energy is going into creating better pathways into volunteering, work experience and employment. Milburn highlights the “growing pastoral burden” employers can feel when supporting young people with anxiety, low confidence or health needs, and the need for “a system around them that makes doing so easier”.

That is exactly what partners in Torbay have been working towards. For several months we have been exploring what a community-led model of support could look like.

Together, we are mapping existing opportunities, identifying barriers with fresh eyes and testing small-scale pilots. The ambition is to create a connected and strong web that enables every young person to build confidence and develop skills and experiences whilst receiving the support they need to thrive.

Of course, this is not the whole answer. Milburn is right to argue that the system itself needs reform: education, health and welfare all need to change if we are to support young people successfully into adulthood and the labour market.

But while we wait for that wider change, we should recognise what is already happening here. Torbay’s VCSE sector is proving every day that trusted relationships, community-led support and belief in young people can make a profound difference.

The interim report gives us plenty to worry about. Here in Torbay, we also have every reason to believe that with continued investment in young people, there is genuine cause for hope.

For more details on what the Imagine This partnership are doing around the Bay, see our website.