On Wednesday 26th July Sally-Ann Hart, MP for Hastings and Rye, attended a presentation by the young people involved in Connected Futures Hastings.
Delivered by CXK in partnership with Hastings Borough Council and East Sussex County Council, Connected Futures is a young person driven research project which aims to identify and understand the factors contributing to the persistent high levels of young people in Hastings not in education, employment or training.
As part of the project, local young people are being trained and supported to become peer to peer researchers who listen to and record the experiences of other local young people to discover the root cause of the disadvantages they face around employability.
Sally-Ann heard from some of the young researchers about their own troubled upbringing, experiences of the project, and research findings so far.
Sally-Ann said: “This is a fascinating project and I very much look forward to working with these fantastic and dedicated young people and learning the outcome of the research. It is extremely important that all young people are encouraged to engage in this project and complete the survey. I would urge all local employers to do so too. The information will be of enormous help in discovering what can, and should, be done to assist young local people into employment. This is an amazing project.”
Pauline Smith, CEO of CXK, joins Sally-Ann in highlighting the importance of this essential research: “The time is now! Time to truly listen to the views and opinions of young people and stakeholders of Hastings. The system is broken for so many young people and this research will lead to an understanding of the system changes required to provide the very best education and employment opportunities and pathways for all young people.”
Connected Futures is calling upon young people in Hastings to participate in a survey, to offer valuable insights into their views on education, employment, and training, and identify the barriers they face.
To participate in the Connected Futures survey and have your voice heard, please visit surveys.cxk.org/s/ConnectedFuturesYP.
For more information about the project, visit the Connected Futures page.
The Connected Futures project is being funded through a Connected Futures grant by the Youth Futures Foundation.
