Backing Young Suffolk

Currently 1,600 young people aged 16-18 years are not involved in any form of education, training or work activity and over 4,000 18-24 year olds are unemployed across Suffolk .  These figures are rising and include many recent graduates and college leavers.  We mustn’t allow the potential of this generation to be lost to Suffolk’s economy.  

Suffolk’s response is to develop a comprehensive offer to support 16-24 year olds into work.  Partners across the County have come together to plan Backing Young Suffolk (BYS), which will offer a full framework of work experiences and opportunities for those aged 16-24, providing new ways for young people to access work through the creation of apprenticeships, internships, work pairings and college and workplace training places and mobilising the County’s employers to support our future workforce as part of the Government’s wider plans to Get Britain Working.  We also plan to develop opportunities for young adults who wish to work for themselves through the establishment of a regional Enterprise Academy based in Ipswich.

Backing Young Suffolk is an ambitious multi agency project championed by the Suffolk Collaborative to:  

• Develop young people’s employment skills and employability through giving them experiences of work.
• Harness the support of organisations and businesses across Suffolk to get young people into work.
• Provide particular support to develop local strengths in the economy.
• Develop a full framework of opportunities, which provide young people with knowledge and experience of work.

Employability 4 Life An Employer’s guide to the Charter

What is the Employability 4 Life Charter?

The Employability 4 Life Charter (E4L) offers young people the opportunity to display the essential standards that employers look for in the world of work, education and training.  The Charter aims to recognise and reward the personal qualities, learning and thinking skills needed for future employability alongside numeracy, literacy and ICT.  It is a positive way for schools, employers and families to work together to raise young people’s aspirations and motivate them to develop their abilities.

Further details can be downloaded below:

Backing Young Suffolk Events

For forthcoming events please click here.

14-19 Strategic Conference Report

The 14-19 Conference 2010, with a focus on jobs and skills for the future proved to be a notable success:

• as a Conference in itself and
• as a First Step to progressing an Employer Engagement programme for Suffolk

Feedback to-date has been very positive; delegates were very keen to be involved in future developments and the workshops produced an ‘explosion’ of ideas and comments, for example: ‘thought provoking’ and ‘challenging perceptions’.

The full Report can be downloaded below:

Vision for Development of an Eastern Enterprise Hub