Ixion gave young people in Essex help and guidance to get them back into work successfully; creating 670 new roles in The East of England, London, South East and North West. This provided many young people aged 18 – 24 with six month work placements that gave them invaluable work experience, skills and contacts in Creative Industries such as TV, fashion, theatre and music.
Iain Lockhart, the man responsible for pulling this off, wanted to help provide opportunities for the young unemployed.
“It’s been really great to see the positive impact this scheme has had on young people. Many lacked confidence and skills, but these roles have given hundreds the inspiration they need to find a job and climb the career ladder.”
Working with organisations including BAFTA, ITN and many of the local Councils, this scheme created some fantastic opportunities, including new final positions at the recently expanded Chelmsford Museum where 2 people are gaining a range of skills and knowledge in archiving, customer service and the town’s local history.
Ixion’s passion for helping young people get back into work saw the company itself take on 4 local youngsters, including Henry Robertshaw, aged 18, and Verity Cotton, aged 19, who fully support the project:
“I was unemployed for 6 months before I was taken on as part of the Future Jobs Fund. I’m only a month into my placement, but I’ve already gained an invaluable experience in a real working environment.”
“The support and advice I’ve received has been really great. I’m not sure where I’d be without an opportunity like this.”
To show some of the fantastic work that is being achieved through these placements and how six months can make a difference to a young person that has struggled to find employment; one of the new roles created at Ixion focused on producing a range of videos and case studies to show how the employees had grown in their confidence, skills and approach to having a career.
This scheme has not only been good for those that got to take part. It was good news for the companies involved as well. Taking on someone that has been unemployed for some time, can be quite daunting, there is always a fear of the unknown and whether they will be more trouble than they are worth. However this programme has demonstrated that given the opportunity, 18 – 24 year olds can rise to the challenge, that they actually want to work and that all they needed was the opportunity to show how they can add value to a company and make a real difference.