New hub to tackle youth unemployment in area

A new youth hub is to be created in North Warwickshire next year as part of government plans to tackle unemployment and boost training.

A location for the centre is yet to be chosen, but Rachel Taylor, the Labour MP for North Warwickshire and Bedworth is lobbying for it to be in Atherstone.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) said the aim is to bring education, training, mental health support and career guidance under one roof and make it accessible to 16-24-year-olds.

"We all know at school people are pushed into potentially going to university, but there isn't enough investment into trades and technical jobs. And we need to be helping our young people to get into those," Taylor said.

According to data from local authorities in England compiled by the Department for Media, Culture and Sport, council spending on youth services has fallen by 73% since 2010.

The new youth hubs are aimed at getting more young people into employment, and Taylor said grants of up to £5,000 for local firms to take on 18-24-year-olds and the youth hubs are part of that strategy.

The government says the scheme, which comes with an overall budget of £2.5bn, is part of a "once-in-a-generation drive to tackle youth unemployment".

The programme will see a total of 360 hubs opened across the country, with North Warwickshire and Rugby due to get one in 2027, and Stratford-upon-Avon and Warwick following in the third year of the project.

The new youth hubs have been welcomed by Amina Bhagatte-Mamoojee, the co-founder and chief executive officer of Aspire in Arts, an organisation offering targeted support for young people in and around Nuneaton.

"I think there should be more for young people in the community," she said.

"One of the reasons we set up Aspire in Arts was there was a need for a youth provision in our local area. Kirsty (Lowrie, co-founder) and I both live in Nuneaton and have done all our lives.

"Living in Nuneaton, we wanted to give back to our local community."

Aspire in Arts works with more than 250 young people on a weekly basis through seven youth clubs between Monday and Friday. The group also offers alternative provision and intervention through the day.

While no location for the youth hub in North Warwickshire has yet been chosen, the area's MP has written to the borough council leader, calling for it to be located in Atherstone.

In a copy of the email on her Facebook page, Taylor said the Atherstone Central ward had the "highest number of 18-24-year-olds claiming Job Seeker's Allowance or Universal Credit whilst seeking work" and that the town was centrally located and the most accessible part of the borough.

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