The Falkirk Youth Hub – a service delivered by the Falkirk Job Centre Plus in partnership with Forth Valley College - was officially opened today (Monday 23 May).
An official launch event had to be delayed due to Covid-19 restrictions, but at FVC’s Falkirk Campus Antonine Suite on the morning of Monday 23 May, the service to support young people aged between18-24, was opened by Falkirk MP John McNally, DWP East District Service Leader Fred Musleh and Forth Valley College’s Vice Principal Learning and Student Experience, Kenny MacInnes.
A Youth Work Coach, employed by the Department of Work and Pensions is based, full-time on the Falkirk Campus and this service has been up and running since February 2021. Initially, the service was delivered in a blended way, only seeing those customers who needed to be seen in person on campus. However, since the easing of pandemic restrictions, the Youth Work Coach has been supporting more and more young people to visit the Falkirk campus for face to face meetings.
Young people who use the service are able to take advantage of the range of advice and guidance available from Forth Valley College’s Support and Guidance Advisors, Student Funding, Developing the Young Workforce Forth Valley and Skills Development Scotland (SDS). All of the partners have been collaborating very well to support young people to find a positive destination that is best for them.
Since the students returned to normal campus life, it is hoped that the new surroundings and set-up will help to engage the targeted age-group, who prefer to engage with the Jobcentre in a more formal setting and where they can meet with other young people.
A collaborative approach has been shown to have benefits for all stakeholders, who will gain knowledge of support, guidance and services available and build meaningful professional relationships with colleagues in other partner organisations.
The Youth Hub is part of the UK Government’s £30bn Plan for Jobs. Jobseekers can now get extra help to find work, reskill for alternative careers and access training opportunities.
Mims Davies MP, Minister for Employment, said: “By rolling out Youth Hubs across local communities like these at the campuses in Alloa and Falkirk, young people will be able to access vital, suitable support from our Work Coaches in a range of settings helping to match them with local opportunities, whether it’s more training or to help them move into employment.
“This is a challenging time and we are serious about investing in young people as we get Britain back working again and moving further into recovery. That’s why, as part of our Youth Offer, we are also injecting £2 billion into the DWP Kickstart scheme, creating new, subsidised, high-quality roles for under 25s as we continue our work to protect, support and create jobs.”
Anna Vogt, Head of Inclusion and Student Services said: “We are delighted to be working closely with our partners in the Department of Work and Pensions, and feel this new initiative will prove to be an excellent way to engage and energise young people looking to find new work, training and educational opportunities in the Forth Valley area. We know that young people have been negatively impacted by the COVID pandemic and the Youth Hub will hopefully be able to mitigate some of that impact on young people in the Forth Valley area.
“As well as the brilliant advice on offer from the Work Coaches, sitting right next to them will be our Support and Guidance Advisors and colleagues from Skills Development Scotland and Developing the Young Workforce who can offer the best advice Job Centre customers would need to think about applying for a course at the College and another positive destination option.”
Pam Cameron, DWP Customer Service Leader for Falkirk Jobcentre who is overseeing the Youth Hub, said: “Youth Hubs provide tailored support to help young people to secure life-changing career opportunities and get on that first rung of the employment ladder. They bring young people together with organisations who can help build their futures and young local Jobseekers will be able to take advantage of a comprehensive service offering tailored one-one-one support and access to the latest local job vacancies. They will also be supported by specialist organisations with issues affecting them such mental health or debt, which can make it harder for them to move towards work.”
