Youth Advisory Group blog post - Issue 4

Youth Advisory Group (YAG) member Chloe has written our fourth blog post from the group of young people who sit on the Greater Manchester’s Youth Task Force.  

Back in August Chloe S joined the 24-strong team of young people working with Chair of the Task Force, Diane Modahl, and other stakeholders to develop and deliver the Young Person's Guarantee.

Chloe is working on the Making Effective Transitions strand of the Task Force and below shares her thoughts.

COVID-19 has impacted young people in many different ways, for some they will have had their future plans turned upside down.

With the impact of the GCSE and A-Level results, the changes to teaching delivery at Universities, to the termination of Internships young people have been left with gaps, whether that be in their education, skills or gaps in their plans.

The Making Effective Transitions group will look at how we support young people, through introducing digital skills programmes, develop work-shadowing opportunities - a vital piece of experience many young people are struggling to gain, and further.

I wanted to join the effective transitions group through my own experience at Higher Education. I applied for University without realising this was an option for me, I was the first in my family to go and the experience from this has led me to pursue my passion for supporting students who were like myself. I have developed a wide range of skills from managing teams to running campaigns to speaking to a virtual room of hundreds. Without this, I would have been lost at what the next step would have been, and for many young people going into Further or Higher Education will be the next step for them.

The focus on education will not just stop here, a big demand from young people for an outstanding amount of time has focused on life skills. The group will be looking at how we can further develop the GM Curriculum for Life programme, offering financial literacy resources for schools and colleges.

The group will also look at how we can support young people who want to go through the self-employment route, as well as creating a skills development offer that supports young people engaging with the Kickstart programme and other employability initiatives across Greater Manchester.

If I had to pick out of all of this what I am looking forward to the most, it would have to be the opportunity to develop and tailor skills programmes to suit the needs of young people and the demands of the job market. I feel this is something we have been waiting a while for and we have the opportunity and the clear demand from young people to support them in gaining valuable experiences and skills. These very programmes could be the thing that gets them that job and sets them on the right path, in a year where every path has gone down some pretty weird turns.

I’m excited to see where the group goes next. Be sure to keep a look out for updates on our work on GMCA’s website and social channels.

Also, in the coming weeks GMACS - Greater Manchester’s apprenticeship and careers service - will be undergoing a revamp to include all things to do with the Young Person’s Guarantee, ensuring young people have everything they want and need in one place.

In the meantime, you can use the chat function* on GMACS to access information and advice from a member of GMCA’s Work and Skills team.

So, why not give it a try and find out about next steps available to you?

Chloe Salins, Making Effective Transitions

*The chat function is available 10am to 5pm Monday to Friday. At all other times an email can be sent, which will be picked up and responded to during office hours.