As the world gets back to its ‘new normal’ #Focus5 is here to help young people develop the skills to progress into employment, education or training. The team of key workers are ready and excited to continue delivering our services across Devon, Somerset, Plymouth and Torbay.

We need more young people!

If you know of young people who need flexible one-to-one support and who are aged 15-18, who could benefit from our service please send us a referral using the online form on our website.

We have a strong team with a wealth of experience in helping young people believe in themselves and achieve their goals. So far we have helped 500 young people to recognise their barriers to employment, find ways to overcome those barriers, and progress their employability skills.

How can young people benefit?

Young people are assigned to a #Focus5 key worker and together they create a bespoke plan of activities to meet immediate and long term goals or aspirations.

This can include; opening a bank account, learning about financial independence, navigating public transport, creating a CV, applying for jobs or apprenticeships, interview training, organisation skills, work experience opportunities, 1:1 mentoring, therapeutic activities, support with returning to education or the development of life skills.

It also often involves the chance to simply talk and build confidence over a coffee, or a walk in the countryside! Support can be anything that helps young people towards education employment or training, as long as they fully engage with the project.

To find out more, why not browse our gallery of recent success stories.

What are the criteria?

Because the #Focus5 project funders set targets for helping young people into employment, education or training, we need to gently remind you of the eligibility criteria. Below is a summary, you can find the detailed criteria and further information on the referral form section of our website.

A young person needs to be:

– Unemployed – (If someone is unemployed then they are entirely without work, but available for work and actively seeking work. They will usually be registered unemployed and be in receipt of unemployment benefits).

– Economically Inactive – (If someone is economically inactive they are not in paid employment or self employment and are not available for, or not seeking work. They may be in education but at risk of NEET. They may be in receipt of certain benefits such as incapacity benefit or employment and support allowance, and could also be in training of some kind).

– Aged 15-18

– Committed to taking steps towards  education, employment or training

– Willing and able to engage with a key worker out in the world, to develop at least one of the #Focus5 skills;  Communication, Teamwork, Organisation, Problem Solving and Customer Service.

As many of our key workers are not qualified to fully support young people with complex mental health needs, for the next phase of #Focus5, we will assess referrals strictly against the above criteria and there may be occasions where unfortunately some young people will not be eligible.

Whilst we will make contact with every referral and endeavour to help as many people as possible, we do need to ensure those who join the project are in a good position to succeed and benefit from what the project has to offer.

If you know of any unemployed young people aged 15-18 who are actively seeking work and would like to access support, please refer them today. Email us on focus5@cswgroup.co.uk or refer them online via our website #Focus5 Referral Form.