First Day Drive By Leading Businesses To Help Region’s Young Unemployed

MAJOR businesses and organisations are spearheading a new initiative to help local young people get into the workplace, which will be launched at the International Festival for Business 2016 (IFB2016).
HSBC and DLA Piper are among the companies taking part in the programme, offering 16-24 year-olds who have faced extreme difficulty with finding or staying in work the chance to join them and get a taste of a career in business. The programme includes employers offering ‘First Day’ work placements and a flagship event during IFB with up to 100 young people meeting and being mentored by business leaders. First Day was set-up by the charity United Way, the philanthropy partner of IFB2016, and is led by its local partner, the United Way in Liverpool, Liverpool Charity & Voluntary Services (LCVS). The aim of the programme is to provide 500 young people with access to business leaders, a greater understanding of the road to success in finding a job and career and how this relates to their own situation and future options. Following consultation with major players in business and youth organisations, the founders discovered that two common themes held back many unemployed young people, namely: fear of the workplace and lack of relatable role models. Most of the young people are from families who struggled to stay or find jobs, which helped to create a fear about going into a work environment. First Day aims to break down these barriers by working in partnership with businesses in the Liverpool City Region and the rest of country. LCVS Chief Executive Tony Okotie said: “First Day has been established to help tackle the barriers we identified through working with local youth charities that young people face when considering employment and professional careers. “Tackling these issues requires a stepped approach, through which we and our partner youth organisations will be guiding young people. This will ensure that they are ready and prepared to fully experience each new opportunity offered. “Three key attributes that employers said they wanted in employees were enthusiasm, commitment and the ability to hold a conversation. The young people from the Liverpool City Region have these skills and First Day and IFB2016 will be the link that bonds them with businesses and will be a strong legacy that will continue after this year’s festival ends.” LCVS is working with Tomorrow’s People, Merseyside Youth Association, Positive Futures, Uprising and YPAS to find young people to join the initiative.