Breaking Cycles would like to support young people living in deprived areas of Birmingham in finding career-enhancing opportunities.
Why? Because a poverty cycle has been created within many Birmingham-based families.
Recent research from the Office for National Statistics observed the most deprived places in England; Birmingham was found to be the 5th most deprived city or town in the country. For Birmingham to have so many deprived areas is a problem and is almost certainly negatively affecting the opportunities of young people.
Our own research
We decided to speak to a few young people from the local area, just outside West Bromwich’s Sandwell Academy (West Bromwich being the 2nd most deprived area in the country). Questions we asked included whether students knew what career area they were interested in and if not, why. We had 21 respondents, 18 between 15 to 16 years of age. Of those 18, 78% were unsure or did not know what career they were interested in. They generally felt this was due to a lack of information available and limited access to careers services.
What are we going to do?
Breaking Cycles aims to organise a weekend workshop held at a single youth centre. The workshop will help connect young people between the ages of 16 and 18, growing up in a deprived area of Birmingham, with opportunities not necessarily found in further education (such as apprenticeships and traineeships). It will also be a source of information and advice for younger people who may not know the career avenue they would like to follow. We also aim to create a flyer to advertise the event as well as serve the purpose of signposting individuals to careers services, allowing us to reach young people past our workshop.
Who are we calling on?
Our call to action is directed at young people from Birmingham, who feel they do not have access to career-advancing opportunities, to take part in a workshop. We would also like to call on groups from other deprived cities and towns in the UK to take inspiration and create their own workshops.
Where your background does not have to determine your future
