Inspiring Futures

The Inspiring Futures programme is open for applications from Friday 10th July until 11:30am on Friday 31st July, 2020.

BBC Children in Need and Youth Futures Foundation are partnering to deliver Inspiring Futures, a £6 million programme to fund positive activities which support children and young people to achieve their potential on their journey towards employment.

The COVID-19 pandemic is heightening existing challenges for children and young people looking to access further education, training, and work.

There are concerns that the impact of lockdown and prolonged social distancing post-lockdown will have a particularly detrimental effect on those who are already struggling to gain employment, and it will also reduce the opportunity for others to learn the skills and gain experiences that would help them gain employment when they are older.

Prior to the onset of the COVID-19 crisis, there were over 760,000 young people not in education or employment in the UK.  There are fears that the economic impact of the pandemic will lead to an additional 640,000 unemployed 18 to 24-year-olds this year alone.

More than one in three young people aged 18-24 are earning less than before the outbreak, around a quarter of them have been furloughed and a further 9% have lost their jobs altogether. Young people are already twice as likely to be unemployed than older adults in the labour market and some young people from Black, Asian or minority ethnic backgrounds have higher rates of unemployment than their White counterparts. Meanwhile, disadvantaged children and young people with fewer opportunities are disproportionately likely to be out of work or education.

We are proud to partner with Youth Futures Foundation for this £6 million programme, aligning our work to improve employment prospects of children and young people who face discrimination or disadvantage to achieve our shared ambition to transform young lives by unlocking their potential and addressing the root causes of youth unemployment.

Read the full article by clicking here.

Source: Children in Need