NEETs

There are currently just over a million 16-24 year old NEETs (not in employment, education or training). More than one young person in every seven with nothing to do and very little hope for the future.

This trend began before the recession and is projected to continue after. A staggering 48% of NEETs have never experienced real paid work and this includes increasing numbers who do have academic qualifications. These young people from a diversity of backgrounds and experiences, are in desperate need of support, to help them take their initial step into stable employment or back into further education.

The Consequences

The potential consequences of this phenomenon are well understood: wage scarring, increased participation in crime, reduced employability, poorer well-being and reduced self-confidence. (The Work Foundation, Lost in Transition? 2011). The current aggregated public finance costs of 16-18 year old NEETs are estimated at anything from £12bn to £32bn. So we ignore this at our peril.

The Working Environment

Nearly 70% of NEETs are - or would like to be - seeking work, but the nature of the work available to them has changed. This manifests itself in a number of ways: a concentration on higher skilled posts; the movement from traditional industries such as manufacturing to the service sector (with an increasing reliance on customer-facing skills) and a greater pressure to be job-ready and able to perform on day one.

How We Can Help

Click on the links to the right for individual programmes. By offering individual performances with follow-on workshops, on-going workshops to explore particular subjects in more depth and our Performing Arts course that brings together earlier learnt skills, we can offer a real end-to-end service.

At Caboodle we can help, because we are experts in using the performing arts to address a gap identified in numerous business surveys, that of the softer 'employability' skills. We have worked for many years with young people on communication, self-confidence and face-to-face relationships and we have a long experience of exploring and addressing difficult social issues and encouraging strength of character.

We work with pupils facing times of transition and those with Special Educational Needs or for whom English is a second language. Our performances use humour to engage with their audiences. They are inclusive and act positively as springboards to further exploration of the subjects. Workshops provide safe opportunities for participants to share experiences and begin to learn to overcome their difficulties. Through the medium of drama we can bolster confidence and encourage positive choices; strengthen motivation and enhance a belief that they can achieve.

We believe we should give the young people a strong voice within our programmes. Workshops are interactive and can involve pupil-led devising or reworking of earlier performances through forum theatre. Our performing arts course course centres around drama devising entirely based on pupil's own input.

We can help break through the apparent paradox, of needing experience but lacking the opportunity to gain it, by addressing issues of communication and customer awareness through drama in a practical, hands-on way rather than just through observation and we offer certificates of attendance at the end of all our workshops.

Many service sector jobs also suffer from the lack of an obvious career ladder, making them appear dead end to an unmotivated NEET. With our help, they can learn to think positively, project themselves with that positive approach and develop a strong determination to remove barriers to their own advancement.

Finally

Almost every young person categorized as NEET will need further training at some point in their life. Whether this is to be found at adult education, in the workplace, or alongside a JWT (job without training) we are passionate in our hope that, through this programme, we can demonstrate the positive power and benefits of learning.

Return from NEETs to Caboodle Home Page.

Tel: 020 8659 6327

Email: nicola.caboodle@xln.co.uk

or

Contact us through this website.