- 2nd July 2025
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The Local London Youth Summit on 25 June 2025 kick-started a new initiative that aims to address youth employment issues across nine boroughs in London.
Advancing Local London’s Youth Integration Network which forms part of the London Trailblazer Programme, a £30m investment across the capital through the Mayor of London to support the Government’s Get Britain Working strategy, the event brought together over 175 young people and representatives from a broad cross section of organisations that will play a role in helping young people find good work.
Young people, educators, employers, youth support professionals, joined forces to discuss the biggest challenges affecting young people’s employment prospects within the Local London sub-region, where approximately one in seven young people are not in education, employment, or training.
Discussions at the event built on research conducted by leading social change experts, Renaisi, into local pressures and challenges, including:
- Working through perceptions of young people as a “risk” and giving young people opportunities to start their working lives.
- Creating a system that helps people explore post-16 alternatives to further and higher education.
- Addressing pressures to decide on a career, when young people are looking for a job and haven’t decided what they want to do yet.
- Creating greater understanding of the challenges and demands on teachers, schools, employment services, and employers regarding youth employment issues.
These themes that were not lost on Chisola Chitambala, a popular candidate on the most recent series of the BBC’s “The Apprentice”, who advocated passionately at the Summit for giving young people opportunities to start their careers.
Addressing the audience, Chisola said “Too often, young people are seen as statistics, not stories. As risk, not resource. As cost, not creativity. But I believe that when we change how we see young people, we change everything. Let’s shift the question from: “Are they ready for the workplace?” to “Is the workplace ready for them?” Let’s stop defining success only by grades or degrees. Let’s start celebrating grit, empathy, and lived experience. Because those are the skills that will define our future. This isn’t just about employment. It’s about showing a generation that they are not a risk — they are an asset.”
Chisola Chitambala, keynote speaker at the Youth Emplyment Summit.
Lively discussions at the event ensured that all attendees shared reflections, with many attendees making the most of the opportunity to build vital cross-sector connections.
One of the many young people at the event, Nusayba, said “I appreciate the exposure to meet a range of different people. It allows us as young people to flourish and network in a positive environment where we know we are being heard and seen, and know we can actually make a difference.”
Jacqui, who works in the finance sector, commented “I liked that there were so many inspirational organisations and young people. It was great to share best practice and gain new ideas.”
Closing the day, Forogh Rahmani, Director of Local London, said “This summit has been an important next step to help dismantle barriers to employment for young people in our sub-region. We must keep this conversation alive and continue talking to each other. Across our boroughs we are supporting young people and adults to get into good work. We welcome a broad spectrum of businesses, organisations and experts getting involved with this and other aspects of our work. It is going to take all of us to make the changes we want to see.”
The findings of the research and Youth Employment Summit will be published as a report and action plan by Local London later in the year. This will shape approaches to address youth employment at a sub-regional level across Barking and Dagenham, Bexley, Bromley, Enfield, Greenwich, Havering, Newham, Redbridge and Waltham Forest.
Help us support a better future for all
Young people and professionals looking to take forward these actions are encouraged to join the Local London Youth Integration Network. Please visit local.london/contact-us/ or email hello.locallondon@redbridge.gov.uk mentioning ‘Youth Integration Network’ to find out more.
More help to connect people to good jobs
Our team are creating a growing directory of resources and opportunities on workconnections.london to help people looking for work or career advice, businesses and employment advisors connect people to jobs.