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Midlands' poorest to get helping hand into work

by Trevor Loveday

Severn Trent Water has announced a scheme to help up to 100,000 people find employment, while supporting them to reach their potential. The scheme is part of a recently launched “partnership programme” to help tackle the underlying causes of poverty across the Midlands.


The partnership programme with Birmingham City Council seeks to help address cost-of-living challenges in the Midlands where there are a “large number of high deprivation postcodes”. East Birmingham is set to be the first community to benefit from the initiatives Severn Trent said.


As well as helping communities, the programme, According to Severn Trent, “will help individuals most in need of support in particular young people not in education, employment, or training, along with re-entrants to the workforce and people looking to explore a new career path.”


The water firm said it will establish partnerships with schools over the next ten years to provide work experience for 300 young people by the end of August 2023, increasing to 500 a year by 2032. And it has has pledged to provide 10,000 hours of free skills training and employability training in communities and schools.


The programme, according to Severn Trent was based on London School of Economics research findings that young people who do not undertake work experience during their time at school are six times less likely to go into meaningful employment after leaving school, and that figure rising in areas of deprivation.

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