In 2022, the Hub was successful in securing additional funding from the Welsh Government to help and support young Conwy residents into education or training to develop lifelong skills, find a job or become self-employed.
The funding for anyone aged 16-24 is from the Young Person's Guarantee, a Programme borne about from the recognition that this generation suffered the most from the pandemic, and the acknowledgement that their experience will have an impact on business operations, culture, education and the wider society in years to come.
This generation are not your typical consumer though as they live in a world of immediate knowledge and expect to be engaged with in memorable ways, so to ensure it was effective in its marketing the Hub recognised that it needed a separate identity which would appeal to and resonate with this generation. Youthfriendly in Conwy who are specialists in using design, film and media to communicate with young people were approached to create a new logo which captures the energy, aspiration and the positive journey the Hub offers participants in the new logo, and it can now be seen across all the marketing and engagement activity for 16-24 year olds.
The Hub also strengthened its team with the appointment of Sarah Davies as Project Development Officer and Lyndsay Edwards as Engagement Officer.
Since securing the additional funding, the Hub has run a busy programme of events to enable 16-24 year olds to develop skills while providing a clear path to employment, including:
- Moving Forward was a 6-week employability course with Abergele Youth Shedz. With a maximum number of 12 participants allowed, the course was so successful that an additional course was run before the end of the financial year and eight of the participants helped out at the Careers Fair in March.
- An outdoor activity weekend at Glan Llyn which included employability aspects interwoven into the timetable so they received careers and training advice, CV writing and interview preparation.
- A 10-week Outdoor Activity Pathway was run in partnership with Conwy Ffit which was designed to give participants a taster of a career in the activity sector. The course had participants e-biking, climbing, walking and indoor caving, and they received training in cycling courses and First Aid with the option to sign up to additional training courses.
- A Passport to Construction course was run in partnership with Creating Enterprise to give participants practical skills for a career in construction including certified training in Health and Safety, preparation for and sitting the test to obtain their CSCS card.
- A fully-funded self-defence/awareness training course. The six-week course covered personal safety awareness in daily life and provided participants with effective and easy to remember physical self-defence techniques.
- Employability Workshops at Penrhos Avenue Alternative Education Service and Coastal in Rhyl which supports children who are no longer engaging with mainstream school. As well as CV writing and interview techniques, the workshops also provided participants with invaluable life skills from how to dress for an interview and even how to iron a shirt.
- Regular visits to schools across the county, job centres and the Hummingbird Project in Abergele along with the development of close working relationships with Youth Homeless Prevention and Cynnydd has ensured that the Hub has been extremely successful in getting young participants into work, college, university or setting up their own business.