Today, March 19th, the Prime Minister visited Street League in Birmingham, to launch a £90m programme that will tackle inequalities in youth unemployment.

On visiting Street League's programme in Aston, she learned how Street League uses sport to engage with 16-24 year-olds and supports them to develop the key skills needed for employment, such as communication, confidence, interviews and building a C.V.

The Prime Minister said:

I'm delighted to be here at Street League today, hearing about how they help young people get into employment, and overcome the barriers to getting a job. And it's today actually that we are launching a new £90million programme which is going to be about getting young people into employment, and particularly recognising that young people, aged 16-24 from other ethnic groups are twice as likely to be unemployed as their white peers.

The PM has challenged the country to #ExplainOrChange the inequalities revealed by last year’s Racial Disparity Audit. One of the recent statistics from the Racial Disparity Audit shows that 23% of 16-24 year-olds from ethnic minorities are unemployed, compared to only 12% of white 16-24 year-olds are unemployed, despite both groups having similar qualifications.  

The Big Lottery Fund, the largest funder of community activity in the UK, has announced plans to put young people at the heart of designing a £90 million scheme to help tackle youth unemployment.

As part of the launch of the new youth fund, Prime Minister Theresa May, spoke to some young people at Street League Birmingham about the challenges that they face, and to talk about what support they need to prepare them for the world of work. 

The Prime Minister spoke to Leela, who shared her journey of how Street League helped her to build her confidence and get to the point where she had multiple job prospects on offer. Watch Leela's story here:

Dawn Austwick, Chief Executive of the Big Lottery Fund, said:

Young people who face multiple barriers to education, employment or training are best-placed to tell us what needs to change for them. Young people will be at the heart of the process to shape solutions and create a dormant accounts youth fund that works for them by working with employers, educators, youth and community organisations.

Matt Stevenson-Dodd, Chief Executive of Street League, said:

Street League supports a diverse range of young people from disadvantaged communities across England and Scotland to move into sustainable jobs. Over the past twelve months, we’ve helped 1,700 young people move into jobs and training. We value the support we receive from all of our funders and partners to help us change the lives of young people for the better.

Stevenson-Dodd also featured on Sky News on March 19th, 2018 to share how important it is that we support young people who are "hidden" from the system and youth unemployment statistics because they aren't claiming benefits.

Matt Stevenson-Dodd Sky News

Street League was able to change the lives of 1700 young people last year, thanks to support from all of its funding and employer partnerships. 

To read more about Street League's social impact view:

For other articles covering the Prime Ministers visit please see:

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Author: Sara McCraight

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