South Ribble opens youth employment hub

South Ribble Borough Council has opened a Youth Hub designed to help 16 to 24-year-olds to access support to help them into employment.

The hub has been created in partnership with the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) and will operate from the Civic Centre in Leyland four days per week, with referrals currently being made through Jobcentre Plus. It is expected that a drop-in facility will be implemented soon.

The Youth Hub will bring together local partners to support young people with access to services relating to employment, debt and finances, and health and wellbeing, including support for mental health and confidence building.

As well as providing a base for the Youth Hub, the council has also applied for funding to recruit a specialist youth engagement officer to support its work and develop a series of initiatives to help young people right across the borough.

Coun Paul Foster, leader of South Ribble Borough Council, said: "South Ribble has sadly been identified as one of the areas that has seen the biggest increase in youth unemployment and it’s of no doubt that the devastating effects of the pandemic have been a root cause of this.

"We’re dedicated to do all we can to support the young people of the borough and I’m so pleased that we have been able to work with the DWP to support and play host to the Youth Hub."

Coun Foster was joined at the hub's official launch by Katherine Fletcher MP and representatives of the DWP. Guests were able to take a tour of the Youth Hub and speak to staff about the work they do to support young people.

Heather Murray, the DWP’s senior partnership leader for Cumbria and Lancashire, said: “We are really pleased with the launch of South Ribble Youth Hub, which means we can work collaboratively with our partners to help with the aspirations of South Ribble’s young people and move them into a career whilst supporting them to remove the barriers that they face and enhancing the young workforce of the future.”

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