The Nest, a new employment hub for 16-24 year olds based at Princess Quay Shopping Centre, has already helped dozens of young people into work since opening earlier this month, offering a relaxed alternative to the job centre
The Exploring Opportunities session is open to anyone aged between 16 and 65(Image: Donna Clifford/Hull Live)
Young people in need of employment in Hull are getting a boost of support thanks to The Nest – a new employment hub specifically designed for 16-24 year olds. The Nest, however, has events for people of all ages and aims to help people get into work.
The hub opened earlier this month and has already helped dozens of young people by giving them career advice and helping them into jobs. The Nest is being run by the Hull KR Foundation and aims to create a more relaxed space than the Britannia House job centre.
Vikki Tate, employability and skills manager at Hull KR Foundation, said The Nest is “a place where they want to come, not where they have to. We are taking these young people, some young people, out of Britannia House into a more relaxed space,” she said. “It can be so daunting for young people to access. It’s a scary place. We want more people coming in and accessing services, and attending the job centre could be a barrier. It’s a safe space, anybody from 16-24 years old are able to access the youth hub facilities. It’s going to be a one-stop shop.”
She says The Nest gives charities, organisations and DWP workers chance to “treat people as a person” and allows young people to access services as often as they want. “It’s important we have been able to spend that time to get to know that person. We get those outcomes because we know that person better. What we want to break down at the hub is that every young person is going to get that time that they need. If they want to spend an hour with us, or come every day, they can do. It’s a place where they want to come not where they have to. They can meet that support in a space that’s safe for them where they are familiar.”
And it’s not just young people who can access support. The Nest runs Exploring Opportunities sessions, funded by the local growth fund and run by Hull KR Foundation in partnership with the Humber Learning Consortium. The programme is available for anyone between 16 to 65 years old. Vikki said: “It’s a programme to help people move closer into work by building confidence, skills, teamwork and problem solving. We help them look for work, and gain work.” Vikki says it is an “amazing” feeling to have someone come in to tell staff the news that they’ve gained employment.
“We wanted to call it The Nest because everyone is welcome. We are not disregarding anyone who walks through the door. You can walk in, come and speak to one of us.” The Nest is open from Monday to Friday and has a permanent DWP worker. Appointments are available with DWP work coaches, as well as access to courses and workshops like the Exploring Opportunities sessions.
These DWP work coaches have “picked up their desk from Britannia House to the youth hub”, Vikki says. But The Nest is a chance to access these services in a much less intimidating environment. “They are specifically for young people as part of the DWP,” she said. “We are loving the fact we are in contact with the Citizens Advice Bureau. For those that are 16-17 specifically, we’d rather them not access benefits at all, and go into education, training or employment. We are trying to access the NEETS (those not in education, training or employment) and get them moving.
“We opened on Monday, had our first cohort of young people booked in through the DWP, who have already started their appointments. We’ve had a good steady stream of young people. Feedback from the work coaches is they’ve not had one young person say they don’t want to be part of it. It’s really exciting. We’re engaging with about 50 in the next two weeks. That’s not including those we already work with. We’ve got a lot going on and there are businesses approaching us or we are approaching them. There’s lots of support and training. Everybody wants to be involved.”
The Nest is based at Princess Quay Shopping Centre and is free to access. It is the official DWP Youth Hub for Hull and is open Monday to Friday. No appointment is necessary to access the services.
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