A Sunderland-based skills and employability project has received a four-figure grant to help remove the barriers to employment and secure long-term employment prospects for the City’s young people.
The Parker Trust’s Pathways project works with around 40 young people between the ages of 16-25 from the Sunderland area. The employability project, now going in to its second year, is helping to address issues around low attainment in school, low confidence and undiagnosed autism and get more young people in the local community into work experience and employment.
Pathways’ support with training, higher education and job searching has been successful in moving its first 40 young people forward with their career ambitions, and the Parker Trust believes its project can create wider benefit for the local community by reducing the likelihood of more people relying on housing benefit, universal credit and food banks.
The charity has now received a £4,914 grant from the Newcastle Building Society Community Fund at the Community Foundation Tyne & Wear and Northumberland to help fund the salary of a Pathways Worker who will be responsible for helping the charity’s young people find meaningful work experience and longer-term employment in the North East.
“Our aim is to upskill local young people in and around Sunderland who may lack self-esteem, not have any formal qualifications or have experienced barriers to employment, so that they have a better chance of catching a potential employer’s eye and getting on their interview list.
Karen Noble, centre manager at the Parker Trust
“We’re already seeing positive outcomes for our first batch of students, with several of them going on to secure work experience or interviews, get volunteering positions and find employment, and with the support of Newcastle Building Society we’re looking forward to welcoming even more local teens and young people to learn with us in the coming months.”
The Newcastle Building Society Community Fund seeks to provide support aligned to the Society’s strategic community focus. Priorities for funding are informed by Vital Signs North East 2024, the latest series of reports developed by the Community Foundation.
Supported by Newcastle Building Society, Vital Signs is a guide to the key issues affecting the North East and suggests how individuals and businesses can work with charities and community organisations to create a bigger impact in the region.
“Developing skills and employability to help people across our heartland area is one of the core focusses of our charitable giving. The Parker Trust team has developed a practical project for dozens of local young people to develop the skills they need to move towards careers that they will love, and it’s a pleasure to be able to support their inspiring work.”
Jamie Anderson, customer advisor, at Newcastle Building Society
The Newcastle Building Society Community Fund at the Community Foundation Tyne & Wear and Northumberland offers grants to charities and community groups located in or around the communities served by the Society’s branch network.
Since 2016, Newcastle Building Society’s Community Fund at the Community Foundation has contributed over £1.7m in grants and partnerships to a wide variety of charities and projects across the region, including the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation and the Prince’s Trust.
To find out more about the Newcastle Building Society Community Fund at the Community Foundation and for member nominations, visit: https://www.newcastle.co.uk/powering-communities/community-grants/apply-for-a-grant
