FULHAM FC FOUNDATION SECURES £400,000 FUTURE JOBS PROJECT IN PARTNERSHIP WITH FIVE TOP LONDON CLUBS AND CROYDON COLLEGE
Jobs within top football clubs are not easy to come by; but thanks to a groundbreaking project between the Fulham Football Club Foundation, Croydon College and five other London Clubs, young people are about to get that opportunity under the government’s new ‘Future Jobs’ scheme.
Fulham FC Foundation, in partnership with five top London clubs and Croydon College, has secured a £400,000 contract, funded through the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) for the project and will begin work alongside Croydon College, Tottenham Hotspur, West Ham, Arsenal, Charlton Athletic and Brentford, in assisting young people trying to enter employment. This contract will result in 60 new jobs being created for young people aged 18-24.
As part of the ‘Future Jobs’ scheme, each young person will be employed for 6 months, during which they will be given training, valuable work experience and a salary.
The programme assists unemployed 18-24 years olds in securing a job for a minimum of 6 months. Croydon College has identified unemployment hot spots in London and by working with top London football clubs, will help local communities by supporting young people entering employment in a tough economic climate.
Successful applicants for these jobs will work as Assistant Coaches within each of the club’s Foundations (charity arms of the Clubs). All of the Clubs involved have committed to offering permanent employment for at least 50% of the young people involved, after the 6 month programme ends. They will then undertake a full apprenticeship course which will be delivered by Croydon College.
All those who obtain a Future Job placement will undertake a range of training including Coaching Awards, Literacy and Numeracy and Employability programmes. The Clubs will provide mentors for all of these new employees. Mentors will be drawn from existing Club staff and trained specifically for this role.
Steven Day, Chief Executive of Fulham FC Foundation said “This is a fantastic opportunity for football clubs to work together pan-London addressing and impacting positively on employment in their local communities. We know that young people make up the largest proportion of those unemployed in the UK and football clubs are now in a position to make a real contribution to this key Government priority. We look forward to welcoming ten new staff to the Foundation in a few weeks”
Claire Parry, Managing Director of Croydon Skills and Enterprise College said: “This contract is a real coup for the College and shows how we’re dedicated to working innovatively in partnership with other organisations to support the development of both individuals and businesses in an unpredictable economic climate”.
The Fulham FC Foundation uses sport and in particular football as a vehicle to create life changing opportunities for children, groups and individuals in its communities. This is achieved by working with a wide a range of partners including central and local government departments, schools, colleges, businesses and charitable trusts to design programmes that engage with all sections of their communities. The activities are based on the belief that engagement through sport can result in far more than just developing sports skills.
