A CHARITY that works to get unemployed young women back into employment through education and training, has launched in Liverpool, with the support of Mayor Joe Anderson.
WeMindTheGap offers unemployed women a six month paid traineeship, many who have been referred by local agencies such as Leaving Care, Youth Justice, homeless centres, Women’s Aid, housing associations, local charities, as well as the Job Centre. This has proven to create lasting positive change for those taking part.
First piloted in North Wales, the scheme has proven to create social mobility in young women who otherwise had become completely reliant on the state for their survival.
Rachel Clacher, co-founder of Moneypenny and CEO of WeMindTheGap, said: “Such has been the success of the first three programs, a charity has been established to deliver similar traineeships in new communities. 70% of participants move from being reliant on the state with few choices to leading totally independent lives with many choices. It is estimated that they move from costing the state an estimated £25,000 per annum to contributing an estimated £19,000. A net economic gain of £44,000 in six months.”
WeMindTheGap Liverpool officially launched earlier this month with the support of the Lord Mayor’s office who kindly donated £10,000 to help kick-start the project. Thanks to this support and other donations, the charity has already seen eight young women accepted onto a six-month paid traineeship, providing them with the core skills from work experience, one to one coaching and skills development. Each young woman benefits from being mentored by women who can relate to where they come from through lived experience.
WeMindTheGap was created and piloted by Moneypenny, a world leader in telephone answering and outsourced switchboard services and Top 5 Best Company to Work for in the UK. By bringing the company’s unique approach to people development to a whole new cohort in the local community – the charity has created lasting change.
Deputy mayor, Ann O’Byrne, added: “We are happy to support WeMindTheGap, so we can help create lasting change for women who are finding it hard to secure work. We want to do everything we can to empower women and give them the skills, abilities and confidence to make a positive change to their lives and to the community in which they live.”
Rachel Clacher went on to say: “We came to Liverpool with a £50,000 donation to launch this campaign, and we need to match that with support from the City, so we are delighted that Mayor Anderson and deputy mayor, Ann O’Byrne, have agreed to support the project and kick-start our campaign with £10,000, which will fund a place on the programme for one young woman. We welcome other partners to get in touch to help us take these practical steps to address the lack of social mobility and poverty of aspiration that affects some communities.”
