12/07/2010 News!! Kelly's Charity to get jobless young people 'fit for employment!'

Double Olympic Champion Dame Kelly Holmes and her charity will be leading the field this summer to help jobless young people in London find training and employment.

The Dame Kelly Holmes Legacy Trust has teamed up with top recruitment firm, Morgan Hunt to launch ‘Get on Track’ in Southwark, which will help young people who are struggling to find work 'get fit for employment'.


Just as the world cup closes, this innovative new programme kicks off in Southwark, where it is a real priority to reduce the numbers of young people not in education, employment or training. ‘Get on Track’ gives the local young people the chance to be mentored by world class sports performers. These are champions who, having experienced the highs and lows of world class competition, know what it is like to face adversity and overcome the odds to succeed.


Made possible through the support of Morgan Hunt, over the summer Get on Track will give 25 young people the chance to undertake an intensive series of challenges.

These include Community Sports Coaching with Millwall Football Club on a holiday play scheme, and taking part in Morgan Hunt a dragons den style event, where a number of work experience placements with the sponsor themselves are up for grabs! Each task is designed to develop the skills and abilities needed in this tough economic climate to gain work experience and hopefully, a job or training at the end of the course.


The project will start with Dame Kelly urging local businesses to pledge work placements and jobs for young people to aim for at the end of the course.  While this happens, the young people will take part in a range of practically based workshops and activities designed to help them to think about the steps they need to take to begin to change their lives, and have a greater prospect of gaining qualifications or employment in the future. 

Supporting them through this will be Commonwealth, World and European Champions Adam Whitehead, Jenna Downing, Mike Mullen and Neil Danns (pictured).


Dame Kelly Holmes said:


“Currently, close to one million young people nationwide are not in education, employment or training. I am delighted that with the support of Morgan Hunt, my charity and the local partners in Southwark we have the opportunity to help young people in Southwark get their lives ‘on track’.  Too often young people who are struggling can be written off. Through our support, we are giving young people the skills and experience they need to help themselves, and hopefully go on to find training and employment”.


Gavin Megnauth, Head of Corporate Social Responsibility at Morgan Hunt, said:
 
“Everyone is well aware that it’s a tough economic time right now. Even graduates are finding it difficult to enter employment – for disadvantaged young people with little or no training; the challenge is exceptionally difficult. We believe the industry has a responsibility to help. We work with more than one thousand organisations across the UK and are one of the leading public sector recruiters. We will use our unique position to harness our relationships with these employers to collaboratively partner with the Dame Kelly Holmes Legacy Trust to make a real, dramatic difference to this group of young people’s lives and careers”.

Catherine McDonald, Southwark Council Cabinet Member for Education, said:

"This is a really exciting project. As a council we are whole-heartedly committed to ensuring that our young people can achieve their huge potential. Southwark's young people are ambitious, energetic and full of ideas. All they need is an opportunity. Kelly Holmes' project is a great way to help those struggling to get into work."

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