12.10.11: ThinkForward to tackle youth unemployment

The Private Equity Foundation has announced a new partnership providing critical support to those young people most at risk of falling out of education, employment or training. ThinkForward launches this week in Shoreditch, East London where 75% of children live in poverty. Working in the boroughs of Islington, Hackney and Tower Hamlets allocated ‘progression coaches’ will provide bespoke support within schools to 14-19 year olds.

According to Sir Alasdair Macdonald, Headteacher of Morpeth School:

“I’ve been a head teacher at this school for 19 years and we’ve had lots of initiatives, I’d say that this one offers perhaps more potential than anything else I have seen.”

The key difference to other initiatives being that this support will be sustained from age 14 right through to age 19 for the young people. Each young person will get the assessment they need and a personal action plan to help them access and utilise other local initiatives already available for them. The coach will also introduce workplace mentors to provide business networks and work opportunities.

The Private Equity Foundation’s experience with disadvantaged young people has found the transition from school to work notoriously difficult and this initiative will enable those young people to gather the skills, characteristics and contacts they need to enter the world of work.

In Shoreditch the NEET (not in education, employment or training) rate is 21% higher than the rest of the country so the need for highly trained coaches providing bespoke one on one support for 14 to 19 year olds is acute. This is however a national issue with £35 billion the estimated cost of one generation of NEET young people. The plan for ThinkForward is to be in 15 schools for five years at a cost of £5.7 million but with a saving to the public purse of £17 million. This would ensure 50% less NEET young people in Shoreditch alone. The objective is then to scale this proven model for national rollout.

The Private Equity Foundation, Tomorrow’s People, Ernst & Young, local authorities and schools from Hackney, Tower Hamlets, Islington have joined forces to develop this unique initiative providing young people in disadvantaged communities with the support they need to move from education to employment.

According to PEF Chief Executive Shaks Ghosh:

“There is a crisis in our communities and on our estates, unemployment figures are double the norm, leaving many children with no understanding of the world of work. ThinkForward provides a support structure to schools to ensure those most at risk receive dedicated guidance for their journey to adulthood.”

Think Forward is being delivered in Shoreditch in partnership with Tomorrow's People, a PEF portfolio charity with experience of helping excluded and disadvantaged people get and keep a job.  Their track record of supporting 8,700 people a year on the journey into work will ensure that ThinkForward gets off to a flying start.

With one in five young people unemployed, compared with one in twelve adults the need is particularly urgent. Young people are not receiving the help they need to move from education into employment and for those leaving school one in five will not enter education, training or employment. The Private Equity Foundation is convinced ThinkForward will provide a viable blueprint of success for those young people across the country who need the most help to reach their full potential.

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For further information on ThinkForward please contact kevin@privateequityfoundation.org Tel: 020 7749 5130 For press enquiries please contact joe@privateequityfoundation.org Tel: 020 7749 5131

Private Equity Foundation (PEF) was established in 2006 to support children and young people in reaching their full potential. From birthplace to workplace, disadvantaged young people face numerous barriers to achieving at school, developing their skills and getting into high-quality employment. PEF works to develop and scale proven, highly effective interventions that remove these barriers, so that many more children and young people can be given a chance to succeed www.privateequityfoundation.org