Last week, we received the findings of a brand and communications review undertaken by Rachael Dines and her colleagues at Shake It Up Creative. 

Young people said that they received lots of support, that their voice was heard and listened to, that our youth workers understood their problems and we offered a place that separated to home and school and it was a great place to meet new friends.

Parents went onto say that without ESY their children would be “struggling more”, “have no structure in their lives”, “have less opportunities to socialise with friends in a safe space” and be “on their phones more”.

Supporting teenagers now, laying foundations for the future

The plight of young people has been highlighted this week as official figures show that UK faces youth jobs crisis as number of  those aged between 16 and 24 not in education, employment or training  (NEETS) rose to almost 1m and experts say the UK faces a youth jobs crisis. https://www.theguardian.com/business/2025/feb/27/uk-faces-youth-jobs-crisis-as-number-of-neets-rises-to-almost-1m

The chief executive of the Youth Futures Foundation, Barry Fletcher, said the figures showed the UK was facing a jobs crisis for young people. “If we are to prevent long-term scarring effects for young people and achieve the economic growth needed in our country, then we need sustained focus on the issue,” he said

ESY agrees with this statement and supporting teenagers now to lay the foundation for the future is at the heart of our mission statement, One of ways we achieve this is by offering young people the opportunity to learn real life skills that can be transferrable to the world of work. Last week 20 young people enjoyed a day learning the tricks of the barista trade, thanks to Ben Cooper from the Barista Project. As the event was so popular (47 registered), another training day is being planned.

I was writing this blog in a noisy office surrounded by young people and two of our youth workers playing Monopoly. Now that’s another example of how through a classic board games, young people learn money management, investing, risk management in addition to important social skills like negotiation and patience. 

#YoungPeopleMatter

#BaristaTraining

#YouthUnemployment

#YouthServices