London Youth Works with RAPP UK to Highlight the Plight of the Capital’s Young Job Seekers
London Youth’s latest campaign reveals how the charity hacked into the job market, turning every out-of-reach job posting in London into a brand new and totally free, 1-to-1 direct media channel, connecting the city’s disadvantaged youth with the people and businesses that have the power to help them.
The ‘Ambitious Applications’ campaign, created by RAPP UK and Fleishman Hillard, highlights young Londoners as the next generation of leaders, creators and thinkers, with the ambition to match. However, the story behind it has a more serious message. While the city is the home of opportunity, its youth clubs are vital spaces where young people can develop the life-changing skills needed to compete for work. Yet without funding, many are at risk of closing, leaving young ambitious people invisible to employees.
The campaign resulted in direct response letters being sent to jobs ads at major London employers such as The F.A., Boeing, Dorchester Group and Bloom and Wild, alerting them to the potential closure of youth clubs. By targeting those who are in a position to help and by raising awareness of the issues young people face in the job market, the letters have helped to open up conversations between London Youth and potential fundraising and corporate partners. This campaign is a fundraising first. It has created a unique way of targeting those who are in a position to help vital resources such as youth clubs, raising awareness of the issues young people face in the market. All through the voice and experience of a charity that has been advocating for London’s youths for over a century.
As part of the ‘Ambitious Applications’ campaign, a street art installation will be unveiled today in the heart of Shoreditch, highlighting the issues facing London’s next generation of employees. Commissioned by London Youth with RAPP UK, the mural, painted by artists in collaboration with Global Street Art, is an open letter to London, on behalf of its young people who will struggle to find employment. The activation will also include the shopfront takeover across all KFH branches in London, as well as major construction hoarding sites across London.
CEO of London Youth, Rosemary Watt-Wyness , said: “We feel this campaign achieves two things, on the one hand it directly targets corporates and asks them to help in a way we would never have thought possible. And on the other we have managed to get a public call out to London, helping us raise awareness of the problem. We know that failure to invest early enough in addressing these gaps reaps costly consequences in the longer term. Youth clubs are the place young people CHOOSE to go, thus presenting a huge opportunity to reach them with support, opportunities, and consistent and trusted adult relationships which London Youth knows can change lives.”
Oliver Easthope, senior creative copywriter at RAPP UK added: “Many young Londoners live in the same areas as the world’s biggest businesses but have no opportunities to build careers with them due to systematic inequalities. This London Youth campaign brilliantly highlights how businesses need to consider this unseen generation, act and make a change, and we’re delighted to have been a part of it..”
London Youth has been supporting the youth sector for over 135 years, carrying out critical work with and through its membership of 600 youth organisations spread across every borough. These spaces provide young people with somewhere to go, something to do, and someone to trust. With a specific focus on employability programmes, London Youth has been able to introduce young people to mentors, provide access to workshops, help them discover new job opportunities and provide free events where they can meet people who have navigated the job market. It is this kind of exposure that is critical to breaking the unemployment cycle that many of these young people face.
