Young Londoners benefit from ‘Hospitality Futures’ initiative
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Twenty-three young and unemployed Londoners have been offered the chance of a career in the hospitality industry, due to an initiative funded by Solidarity AccorHotels.
The youths have graduated from the “Hospitality Futures” programme, a partnership between the hotel group and the Springboard Charity which offered 23 people the opportunity to move into a sustainable career in hospitality.
The programme puts young people not in education, employment or training through a nine week initial course, which includes five weeks of classroom training and on-the-job experience. The aim is to secure every participant a job at the end of the programme, helping to combat the systemic problem of youth unemployment in London.
The young people on the programme have been through a variety of life challenges, including illnesses like depression and anxiety, or even spells in prison, which have made it harder for them to find employment. The course aims to teach them a wide variety of skills that employers are looking for as well as those specific to the hospitality industry.
The graduation for the programme’s fourth annual intake recently took place at the Novotel London West Hotel. 23 out of 25 young people on the course graduated.
Thomas Dubaere, managing director AccorHotels UK & Ireland commented: “Now in its fourth year, Hospitality Futures is a unique programme, which has successfully provided young people with a range of skills, training and experience to support them into a sustainable career within the hospitality industry.
“It’s rewarding to see a young person progress to a position of employment and we’ve seen positive effects on a group of people that might have otherwise been overlooked, often due to factors outside of their control. The feedback we get from those on the course is overwhelmingly positive and the effects are long-lasting. The majority of the people who graduate work their way up to a more senior role in AccorHotels, or in the wider hospitality industry.”
Last year the programme was also launched in Birmingham, providing help to an additional 15 young people. The Springboard Charity supports each candidate with an after-care service which includes mentoring for a minimum of six months. This is coupled with professional mentoring from carefully trained Ambassador Mentors during and after candidate work placements.
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