Summit Success! Thanks for being part of it

Dwayne Foster, TUC Campaign Group

The audience at the Summit

Sarah Middleton - CEO of the Black Country Consortium and LEP representative

(l-r) Cllr Will Duckworth, (Deputy Leader of Green Party),  Ian Austin MP (Dudley North, Labour) ,  Lee Barron, (Regional Secretary CWU)

On November 30^th a host of important speakers debated youth unemployment with a packed audience of young people at Dudley College’s newly built Evolve Theatre for the TUC Black Country Youth Unemployment Summit.  The panels of speakers included MPs Ian Austin (Dudley North), Pat McFadden (Wolverhampton South West) and John Spellar (Warley); Sarah Middleton, CEO of the Black Country Consortium and Dudley Councillors (pictured above, centre) Timothy Crumpton and Will Duckworth (also Deputy Leader of The Green Party).

To ensure that young people’s voices were promoted, the panels also included local youth forum representatives George Heeley (Dudley Youth Council Chair), Sam Shepherd (Halesowen College Students Union President), Kelly Russell (Dudley College Students Union President), Ashley Parsons (Wolverhampton Youth Council) and Dwayne Foster (TUC campaign group).

BBC Midlands Today also came along to the Summit and we were pleased to see the event featured on the evening news!

The TUC organised The Black Country Youth Unemployment Summit in partnership with Dudley Students Union to debate how to put into action three points listed in the TUC’s Charter for a Future that Works:

•          Providing Job Guarantees for young people unemployed for 6 months or more

                                                                                

•         Providing Quality Apprenticeships

•           Providing Quality Work Experience 

At the Summit, Ian Austin MP spoke about the necessity for job guarantees for long term unemployed people, Pat McFadden MP spoke about the success of his Work Experience programme run in association with Community union in Wolverhampton and John Spellar MP discussed the need for more investment into quality apprenticeships in the Black Country.

Young people on the panels and in the audience provided powerful stories about their experiences of being unable to find work or afford to improve their skills.

Ashley Parsons (Wolverhampton Youth Council) commented:

‘I have been applying for jobs in manufacturing for over a year and haven’t found anything the Government put more money into sectors like manufacturing it would be good for the economy as well as giving young people the opportunity to work which they deserve.’

Ashley Parsons speaks at the Summit

Kelly Rusell (President of Dudley College Students Union, pictured below) stated:

‘Every day I hear students’ fears for the future. During my time in office I have witnessed unprecedented and continuous attacks on students from the removal of Educational Maintenance Allowance (EMA) to the rise in tuition fees and threats to the Care to Learn budget.  Dudley students want EMA restored, the creation of many more apprenticeships and quality work experience with guaranteed pay for interns.’

Kelly Russell, President of Dudley Students Union speaks at the Summit

Thanks to everyone who came along and participated in the Summit - you all helped raise youth unemployment on the agenda of decision makers who have pledged to take the action by calling for Job Guarantees for long term unemployed people, more quality Apprenticeships and more quality work experience placements.
  
Thanks also to Dudley Students Union and the TUC campaign group who did a fantastic job helping to organise the event.

Help us build on the momentum of the Summit by sending this link to all your friends and contacts - we want ALL the MPs in the Black Country to pledge to take action, particularly those in Government now who did not attend the Summit and have not signed the Charter.