Thousands of young people are set to be helped into education, employment or with mentoring in a range of schemes announced today by the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson.
Using a pot of £8.3 million from the Mayor and the European Social Fund (ESF), an initial four projects have been awarded grants to help unemployed young people with disabilities and learning difficulties access long term employment opportunities, as well as providing targeted support to 14 –16 years old that have been excluded from school. The projects will use a range of holistic support and skills to engage and motivate youngsters.
The Mayor is also continuing support for mentoring young Black boys with a £700,000 fund that will sponsor up to eight projects in Brent, Croydon, Hackney, Haringey, Lambeth, Southwark, and Waltham Forest. The grants will deliver between £75,000 and £200,000 to existing successful projects with strong track records in mentoring. The Mayor wants to help the many excellent mentoring projects that often struggle for funding and reach his target of 1,000 pairings. The fund will be open for applications from today (24th October) via www.london.gov.uk/mentoring
The Mayor of London Boris Johnson said “It is critical that we invest in our young people, especially those that need extra support in equipping them with the skills needed to succeed in life. These vital projects will help turn around the lives of young Londoners facing challenges, by helping them to stay in education, providing job opportunities and offering long term mentoring support."
The £8.3 million ESF and Mayor's Youth programme consists of £4.15 million provided by the Mayor, which is matched funded (an additional £4.15 million) by the ESF. The four projects are:
- The Integr8 project will provide support to young people temporarily excluded from school or 'at risk of exclusion' to help them re-enter education followed by further training and unemployment.
- The RATED project will support young people at risk of permanent exclusion with one to one personal advisers and mentors to help them build confidence and turn their lives around.
- The Pathways to a Positive Future project will support young Londoners aged between 16-25 with learning difficulties into education, employment or training. It aims to support 234 young people with 70 per cent of employment opportunities being sustained for a year.
- ·The Work Smart London project will engage with 838 young people with learning difficulties or disabilities, working with them on a one to one basis to deliver a tailored jobs and skills action plan and help them to secure and sustain employment.
Notes to editors
1. The funding has been allocated as below:
Integr8 - £1.125 million
RATED project - £1.125 million
Pathways to a Positive Future - £2,348 million
Work Smart London - £1,151 million
Further funding will be announced in the near future.
2. The Mayor’s Mentoring Programme is aimed at supporting and inspiring young Black boys aged 10-16 years of age. Mentoring relationships will last for 12 months. For more information visit www.london.gov.uk/mentoring
3. UEL has delivered a model which has successfully trained over 270 volunteers and paired 120 relationships and developed and delivered an innovative mentoring training model that caters to the specific needs of young black boys growing up in urban neighbourhoods.
4. The Mayor recently launched his Education Inquiry aimed at driving up standards in education in London schools. This is part of wider commitment to ensure young Londoners are given best opportunities and equipped with the skills they need to succeed in life. For more information go to www.london.gov.uk/strategy-policy/mayors-education-inquiry