Press statement: Charity responds to latest NEET stats

Press statement

26th February 2015

Commenting on today's NEET statistics, Lekan Ojumu, Sporteducate Programme Manager at Sported said: "What the latest statistics mask is that there are still huge social inequalities in youth unemployment. The fact remains, that if you come from a disadvantaged background, you are much more likely to become NEET.

We need to find alternative ways of engaging the disengaged and providing targeted support to those who need it most. This means taking a 'bottom-up' approach, supporting local solutions for local problems.

Community groups and initiatives, in particular, have an important role to play in reaching the young people who are at the highest risk of falling through the gaps of traditional provision and becoming NEET. By empowering these groups to provide innovative engagement activities and targeted educational interventions, we can help address some of the fundamental barriers preventing young people from moving into employment, namely key gaps in basic maths, literacy and communication skills."

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Notes to Editors

1. Sported is a Sport for Development charity. It supports over 3,000 community sport clubs and youth groups across the UK that use sport to change the lives of disadvantaged young people.

2. sporteducate is a joint programme developed by Sported and Deutsche Bank to help disadvantaged young people gain specific educational and employability outcomes through sport. The programme has been developed to provide 11-18 year olds, who are at a high risk of exclusion and/or becoming NEET (Not in Education, Employment or Training), with the extra-curricular support, skills and focus to stay in school and go on to further education, training and employment. The programme combines playing sport with education and skills development as a way of reaching and engaging young people within their own communities.

For more information about Sported and sporteducate, please visit www.sported.org.uk.

Registered charity number: 1123313

To arrange further comments or for more information about Sported, please contact:

Matt Shaw, PR Manager at Sported

Email: m.shaw@sported.org.uk

Phone: 0207 389 1923/07775 601956