Retail is one of the key sectors where unemployed and disadvantaged young people in the UK find a way into the world of work.
Young people like Anthony, who is representative of a generation blighted by unemployment and lacking the qualifications, self-confidence and communications skills needed to gain and retain a job.
LandAid, the property industry charity, want to help more young people like Anthony get into the retail sector. Which is why we gave a grant to Circle Sports, a London charity which gives unemployed young people in the boroughs of Hackney and Westminster the support they need to get into work.
Anthony says, ‘Before I got involved with Circle Sports, I had never had a job. I wasn’t good at communicating with other people and that didn’t help my confidence.
‘I have to confess that I dropped out of the Circle Sports Training Programme after two days, but realised I’d made a massive mistake. I asked if I could try the course again, and this time made sure I completed it.
‘I feel much more confident now and I’ve managed to get accepted onto a one year paid apprenticeship programme in Customer Service at De Vere.’
A LandAid grant of £20,000 made in 2013 provided vital funding to enable Circle Sports to develop their services in Wesminster, and establish a new sports shop in Hackney. This funding was backed up by a further contribution from LandAid Foundation Partner the Redevco Foundation in 2014 to expand the charity’s training programme and fit out the second social enterprise shop in Hackney.
We were pleased to see Industry Partner BCSC launch a new programme championing the contribution that people working in retail make to the UK economy.
Charities like Circle Sports and programmes like Retail Matters give young people like Anthony a better understanding of how that initial job in retail can be a first step in a fulfilling career.
Find out more about Retail Matters.