Participation in Action: Jobless young people build a future through regeneration
Laura McCardle
Tuesday, January 6, 2015
Up to 50 jobless young people are to be recruited by Merseyside Youth Association to help rebuild dilapidated homes in a run-down part of Liverpool, learning new skills in the process, thanks to funding secured from the government's Empty Homes programme and Nationwide Trust.
Provider: Building skills project
Name: Ambition and Cospa
Young volunteers in Liverpool are set to leave a lasting legacy to their local community by helping to rebuild derelict homes that have stood empty for a generation.
The project, managed by youth charity Ambition and social action organisation Cospa, will see up to 50 16- to 24-year-olds not in employment, education or training work alongside qualified tradespeople to refurbish 10 houses.
The project is part of a £14m initiative designed to bring more than 100 derelict Victorian houses back into use.
The houses in the Granby Four Streets area of Toxteth have been in a state of disrepair after suffering major damage during nine days of rioting in the area in 1981 that was sparked by tensions between local police and members of the black community. Local residents have campaigned to save the houses from demolition ever since and, in April this year, Liverpool City Council announced plans to regenerate the area.
As part of the plans, Liverpool City Council has transferred the ownership of the properties to a series of smaller projects to transform the derelict buildings into affordable housing.
Jo Oxlade, head of business development at Ambition, says the charity became involved after winning funding from the Department of Communities and Local Government's Empty Homes Programme and the Nationwide Trust to deliver a community-based regeneration project.
She says that Cospa had been working with the Granby Four Streets Community Land Trust, which has been granted the ownership of 10 houses, and put the two in touch.
The three organisations are now working to refurbish the properties before returning them to the community for use as social housing.
Oxlade says that the houses are in a "terrible state" and that work to make them safe is currently under way. "Next will be the major refurbishment work, which will be things like putting in new windows," she explains. "The final stage will be the fit-out stage, which is where the young people will get involved."
Throughout the project, the young people, who are to be recruited by Ambition member Merseyside Youth Association (MYA), will help to refurbish the properties while learning a range of building and renovation skills from qualified professionals.
They will also be supported to gain a City & Guilds qualification in construction and building skills, which requires them to complete 30 hours of guided learning - all of which will be delivered by the contractors overseeing the work.
"We're hearing all the time that unemployment rates are going down but we keep hearing that there's a skills shortage," says Oxlade.
"Yes there are more young people in work but is it fulfilling work and do they have opportunities for career progression?"
Oxlade says that MYA will also recruit a youth worker to support the young volunteers throughout the project to ensure that they get the most out of the opportunity.
"That person will help them with any issues that come up," she explains. "Helping them talk to the Jobcentre if they need permission to attend, making sure they have got their travel covered - dealing with anything that might come up that could have an adverse effect on their attendance."
Oxlade is unable to provide a date for the young people to start - it depends on when work to make the houses safe is finished - but says they have until 31 March to refurbish five of the properties.
"The project is bringing together a lot of different organisations to deliver what we hope will be a successful project that will hopefully give 50 young people work experience."