More than 3,000 young people in west London will benefit from five community projects after a whopping £250,000 grant from the Heathrow Community Fund.
A programme called Inspiring Youth was launched last night (10), in partnership with national charity for young people The Challenge, and mentoring programme Mosaic, at The London Museum of Water and Steam in Brentford.
The new initiative is aimed at encouraging youngsters to get involved in communities around Heathrow airport and in turn help them develop essential skills for the future.
The cash injection is in addition to the £600,000 a year contributed to other local projects in Heathrow's surrounding borough's of Hounslow, Hillingdon, Ealing, Slough and Spelthorne.
Caroline Nicholls, director of Heathrow Community Fund said: “Investing in local young people and providing them with essential skills to build their careers is already an essential part of the way Heathrow contributes back to the communities around our airport.
"We hope that the investment in ‘Inspiring Youth’ by Heathrow Community Fund will build on that to encourage a new generation of active, socially responsible and successful residents in our local communities.”
The project will foster links between 3,000 youngsters with the help of schools and voluntary organisations, community groups, businesses and future employers.
The five programmes to be delivered are:
1) HeadStart London - brokered volunteering opportunities for young people with local charities, leading to a guaranteed job interview and part time or seasonal work
2) The Apax-Mosaic Enterprise Challenge - a national competition supported by leading businesses designed to promote entrepreneurship – to be introduced in 12 secondary schools
3) Action Teams – encouraging young people to plan and lead on social action campaigns in collaboration with the community
4) Peer Support - creating development opportunities for graduates from past National Citizen Service Programmes to volunteer on NCS programmes in the future
5) Mentoring - A series of high-quality mentoring programmes in local primary and secondary schools, to link young people with inspirational volunteer role models from diverse professional backgrounds
Jonathan Freeman, Mosaic’s managing director, added: “Our programmes improve the confidence, self-efficacy and employability of the young people we work with, using volunteer mentors from a variety of business backgrounds often from the local community itself.
"Our work shows the amazing impact possible through engaging local businesses and business leaders, and we call on those entities in around Heathrow to get involved!”
Oliver Lee, The Challenge’s CEO said: "The Challenge is pleased to be involved in the Inspiring Youth Programme.
"Substantial support from this programme has allowed us to expand the impact of our mission into new and existing areas."
The activities will also be available to young people in Richmond, Runnymede, South Bucks and Windsor and Maidenhead.
Inspiring Youth also supports the Step Up to Serve campaign which aims to double the number of young people taking part in social action and community volunteering in the United Kingdom by 2020.
