OnSide welcomes focus on creating opportunities for young people

Our CEO Jamie Masraff has welcomed plans to create more opportunities for young people to gain the skills, experience and confidence needed to succeed in work, particularly in communities where barriers to employment remain high.

“At OnSide, and across our Network of 19 Youth Zones, we’ve seen the difference that strong partnerships between businesses, youth organisations and philanthropists can make. By connecting talented young people in disadvantaged communities with employers through mentoring, work experience and careers support, those partnerships help open doors for young people while giving employers access to future talent. Talent is evenly distributed, opportunity is not. We are more than willing to help with these plans outside of the classroom, where young people spend 85% of their time.

Investment in young people and youth services is proven to break down barriers to employment by building skills, confidence and connections to employers. If we want growth to be felt in every postcode in the country, investing in young people’s potential has to be part of the solution.”