Stronger Futures for young Londoners

Our Young People’s Action Group organised an event at City Hall to provide job and careers opportunities for young people.

We used our partnerships to bring together employers, apprenticeship and training providers, and they all came with opportunities for young people to sign up to.

The Young People's Action Group invited young people that use our prevention and early intervention programmes to come to City Hall and network with employers and businesses. 

More than 150 young people packed into City Hall to take up job and careers opportunities as part of the Stronger Futures event organised by our Young People’s Action Group (YPAG).

The YPAG, part of London’s Violence Reduction Unit, hosted the final ever event at City Hall, giving young people the chance to register for new and exciting opportunities in training, education and employment.

The event brought together young Londoners, industry leaders, employers, and partners for an afternoon of networking, opportunities, and hearing young people’s voices. Our mission is to listen and to champion the voices of young people.

Young people spoke to businesses, employers and trainers across London, and signed up for opportunities in employment, training and further education.

The YPAG, through the VRU and City Hall, used partnerships across our city to bring employers, apprenticeship and training providers together.

Employers involved in the event included:

• Microsoft
• Catch 22
• The Prince’s Trust
• Apprentice Nation
• Facebook
• Sky
• Barclays
• St Giles Trust
• Redthread
• Instagram.

Assembled young people and businesses heard speeches from YPAG members Jade Barnett and Bipin Khanal, Shahid Khan of Catch 22 and the inspirational 13-year-old TV chef and CEO of Dipilicious, Omari McQueen.

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, closed out the speeches, before networking began and young people signing up for career opportunities.

Lib Peck, Director of London’s Violence Reduction Unit, said:

"We set up the Young People’s Action Group to listen to young people and to give them a platform to lead change.

"They understood the impact the pandemic had on young people and they wanted to make a difference. They wanted to break down barriers and put young people in front of employers, apprenticeship and training providers.

"It was a really fantastic event, full of energy and positivity, and it was great to see so many young Londoners take up opportunities that will help them thrive."

Jade Barnett, YPAG member, said:

"We wanted to get lots of young people along to help get them into jobs, apprenticeships or training. At the moment, a lot of young people don’t get the support they need when it comes to work – they don’t know where to go and they don’t know where to look.

"A lot of them have the skills and the talent to get involved with big companies but if they don’t get that support to get there, how are they going to have a successful future?

"So, we thought, why not put on an event like this – giving young people the chance to network, have food and listen to music in a relaxed atmosphere.

"It was really good to see young people leaving with opportunities that they can go home and apply for jobs and to have those ongoing connections in their lives."

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