Lewisham Council secures funding to tackle youth unemployment

Following a competitive selection process, Lewisham Council - has secured a share of the £16m Connected Futures Fund to help tackle youth employment, working in partnership with Phoenix Community Housing and Circle Collective. The scheme is delivered through Youth Futures Foundation - a not-for-profit organisation established in 2019 to improve employment outcomes for young people from less advantaged backgrounds.

The programme aims to provide young people who face barriers to employment, with the support they need to build their careers and access great quality jobs. It is funded via the Dormant Assets Scheme, which releases funds from dormant bank and building society accounts - accounts where no transactions have been carried out for the past 15 years – to support good causes.

The Lewisham partnership will support young people in Downham and surrounding areas in the south of the borough – where youth unemployment is 50% higher than it was pre-pandemic and where complex barriers to employment are 21% higher than in the rest of Lewisham.

Over the next 18 months, the £117,500 of confirmed funding will be used to support a research project into improving youth employment opportunities in Downham.

Young people will be at the heart of the project and will be recruited into paid roles as ambassadors, leading peer-to-peer research and producing a proposal for improving employment support services in Downham. Ambassadors will have the chance to boost their employability skills and see their work influencing, and leading to positive changes in the borough.

Cllr Kim Powell, Cabinet Member for Businesses, Jobs and Skills said:

“We’re delighted that Youth Futures Foundation has chosen Lewisham to receive the Connected Futures Fund. As a Council, we’re committed to tackling inequality wherever it occurs in the borough. This funding means we can do some vital work with the young people of Downham to tackle the ongoing challenges and understand how we can better support them.

“We want to ensure they have equal access to all the jobs and excellent opportunities in London’s labour market, as well as to future-proof their ability to work in emerging sectors.

“We’re putting young people themselves at the heart of this conversation and are excited to learn from them throughout this process. This is about ensuring every young person in Lewisham has the tools to fulfil their potential – regardless of where they live.”

Young Mayor of Lewisham, Rosanna Campbell, said:

“I am so excited to see a youth-led project for young people in Downham to support them to help them reach their future goals. I’ve been in Downham for my whole secondary school and have just left to take my next steps, it’s not always easy to know which path to take.

“For some young people it can be difficult and they have many hurdles to face but all young people however they got on at school want to be able to progress and make the most of their life, everyone has dreams and things they want to do.

“I’ve found, from being Young Mayor, how important it is to go to where young people are and really listen to their experiences, what they need and what the problems are. Young people have many skills and talents and are definitely part of the solution! I look forward to hearing how the project goes and how we can be more involved in the future.”

The Council will collaborate with key stakeholders, partners and agencies to support Connected Futures when it officially launches next month. Further funding will become available for future phases of the project.

For more information and to find out how to be part of the programme, please contact the team JobsAndSkills@lewisham.gov.uk.