We were delighted to host a visit from economist, political scientist specialising in inequality, broadcaster and co host of the Politics Jam Podcast Jeevun Sandher.
Jeevun, met with a group of job seeking young people who use our YES project and they shared their lived experience of the local economy and trying to find a job.
Projects like Leicestershire cares are needed because they believe in you, give you opportunities, enable you to meet business people and help you develop the confidence, skills and networks to find a job
Due to things that have happened to me, I suffer from mental health issues, and I think employers need to understand those issues more
I want to start my own business and coming to Leicestershire Cares is giving me the skill, confidence, and self belief to do that
It can be hard finding a permanent , full time job, there are lots of temporary and part time ones but that make benefits a real hassle
Reflecting on the conversation with our CEO, Kieran Breen, Jeevun shared:
Every young person in my generation should be able to get a good job and live a decent life. Unfortunately, many of us don’t get that chance.
That’s why I was so pleased to meet these young people who are just starting out in life - I can’t wait to see what they achieve.
Leicestershire Cares does great work in helping these young people and I hope this is the kind of model that can be rolled out across the country.
Jeevun then met with our head of community development ,Neetu Squire and local community leader and Cllr, Ruma Ali. In a wide ranging discussion, they talked about how the clash between national and local government can leave people behind and the need to level up within as well as between cities and towns. The struggle to get “voices” heard, the need for far more emphasis on creative and agile partnerships that seek to work across community, public and business sector and why local councils must work with local community groups if they are to build back better.
It was really good meeting with Jeevun and pleasing to know he really wanted to listen to the young people and us, I think more economists need to get out and meet the people
Neetu Squire Head of Community Development
It was a really interesting discussion and great to be encouraged to connect local work to the bigger picture
Cllr Ruma Ali
For more information
YES Project https://www.leicestershirecares.co.uk/about-charity/news-events/yes-project-q3-success-update/
More information on Jeevun https://jeevunsandher.com/bio/
Politics Jam Podcast https://jeevunsandher.com/podcast/