The Parker Trust has used a £4,914 grant from the Newcastle Building Society Community Fund at the Community Foundation Tyne & Wear and Northumberland, to help remove the barriers to employment young people in Sunderland face.
As part of its Pathways project, the Trust works with young people aged 16-25 from the local area, to help them do better in school, boost their confidence, and secure them work experience or employment in the local community.
To help deliver the project, the charity used a 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.
Now in its second year, Pathways has helped 40 young people move forward with their career goals. As well as boosting the young people’s employability skills, Pathways could benefit the wider Sunderland community, by reducing the likelihood of the young people relying on housing benefit, universal credit and food banks.
"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 continues: “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.”
Through the Newcastle Building Society Community Fund, we support local charities and projects working to tackle issues linked to our strategic community priorities. These priorities are informed by Vital Signs North East 2024 and are a response to the key needs of our region.
Download the press release (PDF, 161kB).
Image caption: R-L Karen Noble, Centre Manager at the Parker Trust with Jamie Anderson, Customer Adviser at our Sunderland Branch and Sean Rainbow, our Community Assistant, alongside Emma Sloan and Syeda Chowdhury of the Parker Trust.
