The newly recruited Babbasa Youth Ambassadors have launched a new campaign this October, City Of Change: Youth Challenge, in response to Babbasa’s #BridgeToEquality report. This month, the team of nine young leaders are asking 30 businesses to create a career opportunity for one young person from a lower socio-economic or minority background in the next 12 months.
The Youth Ambassadors who are passionate about changing young people’s futures in the city, intend to pitch to interested businesses who would want to take a stance against inequality. Watch what they have to say here:
What are they asking for?
They are asking businesses to create a career opportunity for one young person, this opportunity can take any shape, from taster days, to internships to entry level positions, and can be run remotely or in person (or both!).
All businesses who sign up to our campaign will have the support of Ayanda, our Placement Programme Lead to support with organisation and recruitment for the opportunity.
You can read more about the campaign and how you can be involved in our FAQ document here.
Why are they doing this?
They are doing this because we surveyed young people over lockdown and found that 79% of young people from ethnic minority or low socio-economic backgrounds still find lack of access to experiences and opportunities their biggest barrier to pursuing their dream career.
Our most recent research report, Bridge To Equality, also shows that Bristol as a city has an ethnic minority employment gap that is over twice the national level (6.4% difference in unemployment rate compared with 2.9%), and those from ethnic minority backgrounds are more likely to be employed in low skilled jobs.
Babbasa’s vision is to see workplace cultures prioritise the development and empowerment of young people. Where young people, from all backgrounds and of any identity, are decision makers in leadership positions and organisations recognise the value of young people to innovate and drive progress.
We believe that through inspiring, empowering and nurturing young people and encouraging serious and open conversations about inequality, we can all be catalysts for change and have an impact that continues for generations.
How can you get involved?
The campaign will be running throughout the month of October. If you are interested in getting involved, please fill in our expression of interest form here.
Or you can email our Challenge Programme Lead Zoe at zoe.lynes@byep.org.uk and make sure to follow us @babbasahub on LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram and Facebook for all the updates about the campaign.