Celebrating one year of connecting young people to employment opportunities.
Following the Reach Up programme (2017-22), Building Connections was created to establish stronger pathways in to employment for young people. In partnership with Coca-Cola Europacific Partners and delivered by Greater Manchester Youth Network, Together As One, Sussex Clubs for Young People and Young Leicestershire, youth workers at each Delivery Partner organisation have been developing their skills as Community Link Workers, building their connections with employers, and supporting young people to explore pathways to employment.
An important part of the Building Connections programme is bringing young people and employers together to connect in ‘real time’ at events. Over the past year these events have taken the form of everything from workshops to large-scale job fairs – all with the aim of breaking down the barriers that make it hard for young people to find employment.
Greater Manchester Youth Network (GMYN)
Working with their young leaders, GMYN ran three workshop-style events, bringing local employers and young people together in Salford, Bury and Manchester. Young people and employers spent time sharing the challenges, barriers and opportunities for employment locally. Closing their event series with a bang, GMYN presented a showcase of videos made across the programme with and by young people.
Young Leicestershire
By keeping their event small and inviting groups of young people to attend in waves, Young Leicestershire created a safe environment for neurodivergent and disabled young people to meet employers and find out about employment support services. Over 45 young people from local colleges and Special Educational Needs and Disability youth groups came to find out what opportunities the world of work might hold for them.
Together As One (TAO)
The team at Together As One worked closely with the Coca-Cola Europacific Partners volunteers to pull off a large-scale event and Slough’s first ever youth-led jobs fair. Over 80 young people explored apprenticeship opportunities, took part in mock interview panels, and connected with Slough-based employers across the evening event, which included an Augmented Reality activity… and pizza!
Sussex Clubs for Young People (SCYP)
In partnership with local MP, Mims Davies, SCYP held their event at Heywards Heath College. More than 80 young people had over 60 local employers and support organisations to connect with. To make it less overwhelming, they were given a scavenger hunt-style checklist to help them take the first steps to connect with everything from wellbeing support to help building their CVs.
