Kickstart Stories
As part of the UK Government’s Kickstarter Programme 22 trainee community organisers were recruited to work with our network of Social Action Hubs across England who make up the National Academy of Community Organising.
The Kickstart scheme was launched by the Government in 2020 to provide funding to create new job placements for 16 to 24 year olds on Universal Credit who are at risk of long term unemployment.
During the COVID pandemic many grassroots organisations became the frontline responders supporting local people to access much needed support and services. This increased demand meant that local organisations were struggling with capacity to meet the needs of their local communities. Following conversations with Social Action Hubs these new roles were created to add the much needed additional capacity whilst also building the skills and confidence of young people to take on community based roles.
Working with the Social Action Hubs a 6 month traineeship was designed with each young person undertaking a national qualification in community organising. At the end of the 6-month traineeship the young people were supported into further employment with additional cv writing and interview preparation support provided. With these new skills gained they were either able to transition into new employment or their roles were sustained at the local organisation they worked for.
This allows us to create meaningful opportunities for people to gain essential skills at this early stage of their working lives, but most importantly, an opportunity for people to contribute to their communities. There are 100s of people out there who could benefit from this and I think it could provide a blueprint for ensuring communities are genuinely listened to
