Feel Good gives us hope as youth NEET rates hits an all time high
The news is out: Unemployment amongst young people aged 16-24 is on the rise, and it’s becoming increasingly difficult for them to find employment. Although shocking, this is a reality we see every day at Regenerate. But, we’re so proud to have pioneered a social enterprise that is tackling this issue in a meaningful way, and we’re so excited to grow this service, with your help, in the coming year.
According to the recent House of Commons Library Report, there are 946,000 NEET (Not in Education, Employment, or Training) young people aged 16-24 – an unacceptable figure which has been rising since 2021 and is now the highest it’s been since 2014. While the government have only now launched an inquiry into how to tackle this issue, at Regenerate we’ve been aware and working to overcome it for over 12 years – ever since young people we were working with expressed to us how badly they wanted to get a job, but how impossible they were finding it, and Feel Good was born.
Feel Good exists because..
..we know first hand how easy it is for young people to fall through the cracks, and into a cycle of unemployment. As the House of Commons report also found, factors like qualifications, disadvantage, ethnic background, and Special Educational Needs all significantly affect a young person’s likelihood of being NEET. For example, young people with low qualifications who were also from disadvantaged backgrounds were an unbelievable 130% more likely to be NEET. And so, with even Cambridge graduates applying to 50+ jobs and not getting anywhere, imagine how disheartening this must be for young people not as privileged…
We asked Neace, who is now a Feel Good barista, what she thinks:
“Before Feel Good I would sit there for days and days applying for jobs and none of them would get back to me. The biggest barrier is having experience, especially for our age group because they’re not really looking for us – they don’t want to have to go through the process of having to train people.
Feel Good took the chance to get to know me before looking at my experience, and saw potential in me […] you don’t really see a lot of places trying to help young people get jobs, so we do need [organisations like Feel Good] […] they help us so much here and genuinely care about us so much.”
Seeing Neace grow into her role and thrive against the barriers she faced, coupled with years of positive results, shows us that Feel Good really works. In late 2020, we switched our model from a sandwich making business, to the coffee carts and eventually shop you see today, allowing young people to build an even wider range of experience. This change has seen even more success and growth, with 80% of the young people we’ve worked with since 2021 moving immediately into further careers.
Feel Good is all about getting to know each young person as individuals, to support them in a meaningful way that will equip them with the skills, confidence, and mindset they need to succeed in their time with us, plus find and retain further employment.
We listen to young people to ensure that what we’re doing is the right solution, and the feedback we receive from them and their wider networks makes it clear that the Feel Good model is the intervention that young people need to break the NEET cycle.
Today, we work with 100 young people a year – employing and mentoring 50, and offering another 50 access to employability skills training and mentoring to help them get work ready.
What’s next for NEET young people in Wandsworth?
Our goal for the next year is to open another coffee shop, which would allow us to employ 75 young people, and we’re already taking steps to work towards achieving this. Our dream is that every young person, no matter their background, receives an opportunity to gain experience, and get themselves on the ladder. The news has shown us that there’s still a long way to go, but we have real hope in the fact that Feel Good is growing, and we are truly changing lives.
You can be a part of this: If you’d like to support this service further, please get in touch by emailing info@regenerate-london.org OR, come down and visit one of our branches – every speciality coffee you buy helps us continue our work!
Feel Good Coffee House : Open Daily, 8am – 4pm
254 Wimbledon Park Road, SW19 6NL
Feel Good Coffee Cart : Open Daily, 9am – 5pm
Battersea Power Station, Grosvener Arch/River Walk, SW11 8NN
