Breaking Barriers to Employment
Donation protected
Nana Agyeman founded AccessUK in 2014 with little more than enough money to secure premises, some basic resources and a 100% commitment to making a positive impact on the lives of young underemployed black and minority ethnic youths struggling to navigate Institutionalised barriers in the labour market.
As a youth who grew in the ethnically diverse capital of London and subsequent 15 year + career delivering employabilty and youth engagement services , Nana has seen first-hand, the devasting effects of employers' 'unconcious bias', disconnection of stakeholders, unfufilled talent and lack of cultural understanding.
There is a socio-economic 'timebomb' waiting to explode in our great and multi-cultural society- a disaster that can be averted if we take appropiate remedial action now.
The eruption of youth violence in 2011 and clear inequality within the labour market, eventually drove Nana to setup Access UK. Such is his passion to make a difference that he sold his own property to finance the organisation's first year of operation costs.
Our aim is to become the leading provider of tailored employment and careers solutions for BME jobseekers.
Did you know...
'50% of young black people in the UK are currently unemployed'
(ONS, 2013)
'Black graduates are 3 times more likely to be unemployed after graduation than white graduates' (Runnymede Trust, 2012)
'A young black man is more likely to be in prison than at a top university'
(David Cameron, UK Prime Minister)
After some research I discovered that there were virtually no organisations providing tailored careers services to address this huge socio-economic problem which has great ramifications for social cohesion in the UK.
If anybody thinks this is just a 'BME' problem they are grievely mistaken. We are all affected by these issues and therefore have collective interest in seeing the core values of equality and fairness upheld in our society.
What do we do?
Access UK (African Caribbean Careers & Employment Support Services UK) is a unique and innovative start-up charity that provides specialist bespoke careers guidance services for unemployed youths particularly those from the Black and Minority Ethnic community.
Why do we need your support?
We have been running a scaled down version of our employability and anti-gang services from Tottenham, London (location of the 2011 London riots) whilst we actively look for support to expand our much needed services across London and indeed the entire UK.
Even on a micro level, Access UK has been able to achieve great success. Take for example Ace who's story you can find out more about by clicking here . Ace came to us as he was struggling to find work, had been through the criminal justice system and was losing belief that he could find a job. Ace has made remarkable progress with the aid of our bespoke support- he is now a business owner, has overcome issues of self-doubt and managed to turn around his circumstances for the better.
With this funding you can help us to reach another 200 youths with an extra 40 hrs of support a week for 12 months. That's a massive difference in the level of support these youths are currently recieving.
Generic mainstream services like the job centre are simply not designed or equipped to have any meaningful impact on reducing the BME claimant count. Job seekers are lucky to receive 30 minutes of 1:1 support and guidance, every fortnight, with their allocated job coach. Many advisory services and mainstream providers are completely oblivious to the particular barriers that afflict ethnic claimants. They are not adequately trained to provide the required solutions to tackle the specific barriers that prevent young BMEs from gaining employment at the same rate as white job seekers.
Access UK's support includes:
- End to End outreach based employability support meaning we can go where there is a need and deliver our unique interventions
-Matching our beneficiaries with employers who promote diversity
- Free graduate job brokerage and careers & guidance services
- One-to-one appointments with an advisor that has been trained with the understanding of the barriers unique to BMEs
-Bespke self employment and business start up support
- Confidence building interventions that focus on addressing destructive behaviour
-Anti gang workshops and employer liasion services
- Weekend and evenings support to address the need for after hours support
- Ring fenced and exclusive BME opportunities that are there to address lack of representation in the labour market particularly in the corporate sector
We plan to kick off a new employment programme to tackle the specific barriers that BME youths face in the job market. The funding will cover the annual salary of one experienced adviser who will engage and assist 'hard to reach' and uderemployed beneficiaries.
If you believe in an equal and fair society where individuals are judged by the content of their character and not by the colour of their skin please donate to our worthy cause.
We appreciate everybody that has taken the time to view this campaign and even if you do not or cannot support us financially, we hope you will be inspired to find another way to make a positive contribution to our mission and vision of a fair and just society.
Thank you so much for supporting our campaign. We really want you to know we acknowledge the support and we are truly thankful for every contribution.
As a youth who grew in the ethnically diverse capital of London and subsequent 15 year + career delivering employabilty and youth engagement services , Nana has seen first-hand, the devasting effects of employers' 'unconcious bias', disconnection of stakeholders, unfufilled talent and lack of cultural understanding.
There is a socio-economic 'timebomb' waiting to explode in our great and multi-cultural society- a disaster that can be averted if we take appropiate remedial action now.
The eruption of youth violence in 2011 and clear inequality within the labour market, eventually drove Nana to setup Access UK. Such is his passion to make a difference that he sold his own property to finance the organisation's first year of operation costs.
Our aim is to become the leading provider of tailored employment and careers solutions for BME jobseekers.
Did you know...
'50% of young black people in the UK are currently unemployed'
(ONS, 2013)
'Black graduates are 3 times more likely to be unemployed after graduation than white graduates' (Runnymede Trust, 2012)
'A young black man is more likely to be in prison than at a top university'
(David Cameron, UK Prime Minister)
After some research I discovered that there were virtually no organisations providing tailored careers services to address this huge socio-economic problem which has great ramifications for social cohesion in the UK.
If anybody thinks this is just a 'BME' problem they are grievely mistaken. We are all affected by these issues and therefore have collective interest in seeing the core values of equality and fairness upheld in our society.
What do we do?
Access UK (African Caribbean Careers & Employment Support Services UK) is a unique and innovative start-up charity that provides specialist bespoke careers guidance services for unemployed youths particularly those from the Black and Minority Ethnic community.
Why do we need your support?
We have been running a scaled down version of our employability and anti-gang services from Tottenham, London (location of the 2011 London riots) whilst we actively look for support to expand our much needed services across London and indeed the entire UK.
Even on a micro level, Access UK has been able to achieve great success. Take for example Ace who's story you can find out more about by clicking here . Ace came to us as he was struggling to find work, had been through the criminal justice system and was losing belief that he could find a job. Ace has made remarkable progress with the aid of our bespoke support- he is now a business owner, has overcome issues of self-doubt and managed to turn around his circumstances for the better.
With this funding you can help us to reach another 200 youths with an extra 40 hrs of support a week for 12 months. That's a massive difference in the level of support these youths are currently recieving.
Generic mainstream services like the job centre are simply not designed or equipped to have any meaningful impact on reducing the BME claimant count. Job seekers are lucky to receive 30 minutes of 1:1 support and guidance, every fortnight, with their allocated job coach. Many advisory services and mainstream providers are completely oblivious to the particular barriers that afflict ethnic claimants. They are not adequately trained to provide the required solutions to tackle the specific barriers that prevent young BMEs from gaining employment at the same rate as white job seekers.
Access UK's support includes:
- End to End outreach based employability support meaning we can go where there is a need and deliver our unique interventions
-Matching our beneficiaries with employers who promote diversity
- Free graduate job brokerage and careers & guidance services
- One-to-one appointments with an advisor that has been trained with the understanding of the barriers unique to BMEs
-Bespke self employment and business start up support
- Confidence building interventions that focus on addressing destructive behaviour
-Anti gang workshops and employer liasion services
- Weekend and evenings support to address the need for after hours support
- Ring fenced and exclusive BME opportunities that are there to address lack of representation in the labour market particularly in the corporate sector
We plan to kick off a new employment programme to tackle the specific barriers that BME youths face in the job market. The funding will cover the annual salary of one experienced adviser who will engage and assist 'hard to reach' and uderemployed beneficiaries.
If you believe in an equal and fair society where individuals are judged by the content of their character and not by the colour of their skin please donate to our worthy cause.
We appreciate everybody that has taken the time to view this campaign and even if you do not or cannot support us financially, we hope you will be inspired to find another way to make a positive contribution to our mission and vision of a fair and just society.
Thank you so much for supporting our campaign. We really want you to know we acknowledge the support and we are truly thankful for every contribution.
Organizer
Chris Ankobia
Organizer
