Peterborough youth employment hub could be permanent, says mayor
The hub aims to help young people into work, education or training
A hub to help young people in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough into work could be made permanent.
The youth employment hub - due to open at Peterborough United's Weston Homes Stadium - aims to help 18 to 21-year-olds find ways into work, education or training.
It's funded as part of the Government's youth trailblazer guarantee.
Cambridgeshire and Peterborough is one of eight regions in England to take part in the scheme until March 2026, but the Government has since extended the scheme for another year.
"We want 500 people through the door (at the hub) by March next year, and if we get that interest, I'm all in and we can make this a permanent thing helping thousands of people," Paul Bristow, the county's mayor, said.
"I think this will be a unique way of ensuring these young people get the support they need to improve their lives and I think that environment is important because it encourages them to go somewhere a bit different."
How will the hub work?
The hub will offer services from careers advice and skills training to mental health support and job-matching for people aged 16 to 24.
Stakeholders including the Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Combined Authority (CPCA), the Peterborough United Foundation, EFL in the Community and Jobcentre Plus have helped set the hub up.
Mr Bristow hinted the hub could open in November this year.
Figures from the Department for Education show this year, 3.9% of 16-17-year-olds living in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough were identified as being not in education, employment or training, above the national average of 3.4%.
Hub is 'significant investment'
"This partnership represents a significant investment in our community’s future," Dawn Gore, chief executive officer at Peterborough United, said.
"We are committed to empowering local young people with the opportunities and resources they need to help them unlock their potential and access meaningful employment pathways.”
Councillor Lucy Nethsingha, chair of the CPCA's skills committee, said the hub will "strengthen what we can do to help young people build their futures and access meaningful work which meets aspirations.”
A report to CPCA found across the county, the number of 16 to 24-year-olds who were economically inactive in the year to June 2024 was at almost 49%, with most of these being students.
Mr Bristow said he's keen to reverse that trend.
"These young people have got the potential to make a real contribution to our economy and we can't sit back and allow that growing number of people to be economically inactive," he added.