Brighton and Hove City Council leader Jason Kitcat on apprenticeships

By September, the council will be hosting about 60 apprentices across a range of services, ranging from nurseries and schools to finance and IT departments. This is part of our joint programme with the JobCentre Plus, supporting young people into work placements.

Apprenticeships give young people, particularly, the opportunity to understand more about the work environment. Six of our current apprentices have come together to share their experiences and raise awareness of apprenticeships across the city by becoming ‘apprentice ambassadors’. From September, these ambassadors will be working with schools and colleges in Brighton & Hove to promote the importance and availability of apprenticeships as a career option.

With support from the council, our six apprentice ambassadors are planning to lead workshops, open discussions, and talk about their own experiences to encourage more young people to consider applying for an apprenticeship. Thanks to our ambassadors, many more young people will have the chance to find out about career options they might not have thought or known about.

We are also particularly looking to help young people leaving council care and seeking training or work. In Brighton & Hove there are about 440 children in care, and for whom the council is a parent. These children are often among the most vulnerable in the city, and they need extra support – so five of the apprenticeships we offer are ringfenced for young people leaving care.

Apprentices won’t single-handedly solve wider problems of youth unemployment, but they do provide the opportunity for young people to break the catch-22 of having not enough experience to get experience.

Given the significant benefits apprenticeships offer for both employers and apprentices, we’re committed to continuing providing apprenticeships to give our young people a better chance of finding work or training – and we urge other employers to consider doing the same.