Job Information Sheets - October editions are available for download. Vacancies this month include: Trainee Chef, Home Carer Apprenticeship and many more.

Young Leaders - Young people aged 13-19 across London to come up with innovative and creative ideas about how to educate their friends about relationships and sex. The deadline for applications is 25 October. To find out more, please contact Camilla Smith or visit the website. 

Raw Hub Music and Media (6th – 27th October) – Free music and production course for London based individuals. For more information, email time@raw-material.org or jdrawfuture@googlemail.com.

Enter the Dragons' Pen is an initiative giving young upcoming food and drink entrepreneurs the opportunity to turn their business dreams into reality. The deadline for applicants is 30 October.

Internship: The City of London Migraine Clinic – Suitable for a young person aged 16-25, the role would be extremely varied ranging from fundraising and educational events administration, to clinic administration and give plenty of opportunities for innovation. Read more or apply here.

Channel 4 young people's seminar (10 November) - Aimed at 16 – 25 year old, who are interested in working in the media. Join Head of Diversity, Ade Rawcliffe as she discusses career paths, with Paul Blake. For more information click here.

Millwall Community Scheme is offering a 4 day FA level 1 coaching course, starting 23 November and cost £25 for under 19s. Please contact Dan McLoone on 0207 740 0503.

Beneath the Surface: Black Heritage Season – Young people can take part in talks, gallery tours, workshops, film screenings, music and performance at the V&A as part of this season. Visit the site for details.

Get into ... Construction (November 2009) - A 2 week programme for young people interested in working in the construction industry. Contact Katy Reiff or call 0207 543 1457, to find out more.

UK Youth Parliament election dates announced - Young people aged 11-18 are needed to become Members of Youth Parliament (MYP). MYPs get involved in campaigns and put forward the views of other young people to key decision makers. Find out more here.

Catch22 Community Youth Volunteers Programme – Young people aged 16-25 are needed for volunteering projects in London. Contact Charlotte Desayrah or call 020 7738 3237.

Marketing & PR Work Experience/Internship - List of Life Ltd are looking for a young person who is trying to break into the PR industry for a full time internship lasting at least one month. Young people should send a cover letter explaining why they are right for the position along with a C.V. to Shing.

Musicroy - Is an online music distribution company, which currently has work experience placements available, working with marketing and social networking. Contact April Morgan or call 0208 968 4113, to find out more.  

Shadow a government minister - 480 free opportunities for young people aged 13-19 are available to spend the day with a government minister from the youth of today.

Youth of Today - Offers skills, opportunities and networking for young people aged 13–19 to become leaders of change, and to appear on The Youth of Today YouTube channel and help showcase youth leadership. Prizes available, email your videos to info@theyouthoftoday.org.

The London 2012 Changing Places Programme is looking for volunteers to help with a variety of environmental improvement tasks in the autumn. Tasks will include conservation, litter clearance, graffiti removal, habitat enhancement and general improvement activities.

Trutube – Is a website where young people get involved in causes, make a difference to their community, find out about volunteering and make and edit their own films. To get involved contact contact@truetube.co.uk or call 020 7940 8480.

Voicebox – Young people aged 16-25 are letting a robot know what they want to tell MPs on their behalf. All they have to do is write a message about what is important to them. The best submissions will be written out by Voicebot and given to MPs.

Languages and Film Talent Awards (LAFTAs) – Competition for young people aged 13-21 now open. Entrants need to make a film relating to Languages in London before February 2010. They are looking for films demonstrating the world of languages available to explore. Prizes include iPods and trips abroad.

Camden Eid Celebration Event - On 2 October 2009, young people in Camden attended an Eid Celebration event organised by young people, at the South Camden Youth Access Point, to celebrate their achievements over the summer period including CBT, First Aid, Healthy Eating competition and Level 1 Beauty courses. One key highlight was that young people in Camden applied and received funding from the Youth opportunity Fund to part fund two Level 2 Youth Work courses with the Activity Agreement Project, which was an idea from Kamrul Taffadar who was on the AAP and is now a part-time Youth Worker for One Housing Group.

IAG Strategy - The National IAG Strategy will be launched at an event in Manchester on 26th October. The NCN will also be presenting the strategy at the AoC IAG Conference on the 30th November. NCN will be represented at this event and will provide feedback as appropriate. If you would like to attend the AoC conference, details can be found on the AoC website.

Better Advice for 14-19 - This briefing examines the problem and identifies the information, advice and guidance (IAG) strategies that will help schools and consortia to enable young people to make better choices.

The London Work Based Learning Alliance has launched a new Information Advice and Guidance (IAG) Website, funded by the Learning and Skills Council and aims to publicise work based learning opportunities to young people in London by providing detailed information regarding 14-19 provision including Apprenticeships, Entry to Employment and Foundation Learning.

New IAG team launched at ConstructionSkills - ConstructionSkills now has a dedicated IAG team in England. Read more here.

National Connexions Network – Advisers and other network members are invited to submit evidence, comments or anecdotes relating to lack of opportunities, the job market, or workload of Connexions to Sarah Hope, who is compiling a press release about Opportunities for Young People.

Functional Skills Support Programme - A first point of contact for all functional skills support. The first phase of the site has been launched and includes programme news, useful links, materials and resources. For more information on Functional skills delivery and the Diploma click here.

Who we are and what we do – New leaflet from Ofsted explaining what it does and how it aims to make a difference to the lives of children, young people and adult learners.

Children’s Workforce Development Council have launched their revamped website.

GLA Young Londoners’ Survey 2009 Report –Young people’s views on themes such as education, crime and safety, civic involvement, transport and the environment and their attitudes to key mayoral policies. Read the full report.

Backing the Future – Report looking at investing in early intervention and universal services for children and families to improve overall well being and happiness, whilst saving the UK economy money in the long term.

The Out of School Alliance (OOSA) is a website that has been launched, providing information and support to individuals and organisations setting up and running out of school clubs.

Consultation on Green Paper on promoting the learning mobility of young people from the European Commission with a view to raising a wide number of issues linked to the learning mobility of young Europeans in all disciplines and contexts. Closing 15 December 2009.

Education at a Glance 2009: OECD Indicators has found that Britain has one of the highest dropout rates of any developed country, with more than one in ten young people aged 15 to 19 not in education, work or training. Download the publication here. 

14-19 Workforce Support - A new website will provide access to all the support programmes on offer as part of the 14-19 reforms, including the four learning routes: the Diploma, General Qualifications, Foundation Learning and Apprenticeships.

The youth advice workforce: now and in the future – Policy briefing for workers who give advice to young people about any aspect of their lives. The report sets out issues faced by these workers, their recommendations and resolutions of those issues, and looks at qualifications and development of staff.

National Commissioning Framework 2011/12 Outline and Key Principles - Published in advance of publication of the full draft version, is intended as a general statement of the key principles and main elements.

CWN Vision and Principles for Induction to the Children and Young People’s Workforce - The Children’s Workforce Network has developed a vision and principles for induction for all those who work with children, young people and families in England.

National Enterprise Academy – National Enterprise Academy has opened in London. It is the first educational establishment dedicated solely to enterprise and entrepreneurship in the UK. The academy will train 18,000 of the entrepreneurs of the future within five years.

Work and worklessness among households – Report revealing number of working-age people in workless households in April-June 2009 was 4.8 million. The number of children in workless households rose by 170,000 to 1.9 million.

New Unemployment statistics released reveal: the claimant count for 18 to 24 year olds has risen by 9,500 to 483,200. Over 50% are leaving the claimant count within three months and over 70% within six months. The overall levels of unemployment across all ages are still rising. Read the article here.

Lawyers for young people at The Children's Society is a Legal Unit committed to improving access to the law for children and young people by working with specialist, expert legal advisors. Find out more here.

Every Family Matters: An in-depth review of family law in Britain - Policy report by the Family Law Review and the Centre for Social Justice detailing how families have changed over the years, why there is a need for a review of the law and how family law affects children and young people.

Care and prejudice – Report by Ofsted which looks at the views and experiences of children living in care and the prejudices they face as a result of being in care.

My second mum and dad - Many grandparents are becoming mentors and confidants as well as carers. A cross-government summit will be held later this year with contributions from grandparents about issues that affect them, which will help inform the Families and Relationships Green Paper due later this year. Read more here or visit the website. 

Young people unfairly demonised by two thirds of the British public - New research shows a stark contrast between how the public perceives young people and the real contribution young people make.

National Policy Context Updates - This course is aimed at team leaders and managers and takes place on 27 October 2009. For more information or to book a place, log in to the CLC online training system at www.centrallondonconnexions.org.uk with your username and password. If you do not have your details, have forgotten your details or do not have access to the internet, please contact CLCTraining@rbkc.gov.uk or call 020 7938 8073.

Coaching to support young people's progression - This 3 day course is taking place on 26/27 October & 25 November 2009. View the course outline and book your place by logging in to the CLC online training system at www.centrallondonconnexions.org.uk with your username and password. If you do not have your details, have forgotten your details or do not have access to the internet, please contact CLCTraining@rbkc.gov.uk or call 020 7938 8073.

Working with young people in alternative education - This course will run on 11 November 2009. For more information or to book a place, log in to the CLC online training system at www.centrallondonconnexions.org.uk with your username and password. If you do not have your details, have forgotten your details or do not have access to the internet, please contact CLCTraining@rbkc.gov.uk or call 020 7938 8073.

The Royal National College for the Blind (15th October) – Free training on supporting young people with sight loss to prepare for college, university, work and independent life.

Young Mothers Building Independence Training Day (15th October) - One day training course that focuses on practical, accessible skills building in a group work context. £153.

New Interventions At The Cutting Edge (22nd October) – Conference exploring examples of new services and new methods of working with hard-to-reach adolescents who may be subject to social exclusion, or make limited use of mainstream services.

NVQ – Advice and Guidance – 5E are offering a free level 2 NVQ’s in Advice and Guidance, to be completed over 3-6 months. Contact 020 8885 9464 or see the website.

Child and Adolescent Mental Health (October 2009 – March 2010) – The training course aims to equip practitioners with the ability to improve their ability to work with young people with mental health issues. £650

The Youth Labour Market in England: A Changing Landscape of Opportunity? (4th November) – Symposium focusing on the Youth Labour Market to link into the ICG Annual Conference, which is taking place the next day and costs £90.

Money Mastery Course (17th November) - The free one-day events looks at the practical psychology of money and how practitioners and young people manage their personal finance, aiming to help attendees get through to young people before they reach the point of financial crisis.

The 2009 NCVYS Annual Conference will explore positive approaches to how organisations can support young people by promoting social inclusiveness, choice and generate financial stability. Prices from £40 - £150, find out more here.

Personal Safety in a Youth Work Setting Training Day (10th November) – Due to increased demand for weekend provision, staff need training on how to deal with young people who are under the influence of alcohol or substances. For more information, click here.

However, in counter-balancing news the British Retail Consortium estimated that UK like-for-like retail sales fell by 0.1 per cent in August compared to the previous year indicating that the economy is far from out of the woods, whilst in Central London like-for-like sales were reported to have declined by 5.9 per cent. Stephen Robertson, Director General, British Retail Consortium, said in relation to the London figures: “these results don’t suggest the recovery is under way. This is the lowest London sales growth since August 2005”.

Mervyn King, the Governor of the Bank of England warned on 15 September that the “strength and sustainability” of the recovery is still “highly uncertain”. With UK unemployment hitting a 14-year high and evidence for only a future sluggish recovery for London’s economy it is likely that business conditions in the capital will remain tough over the next year.

However, even this small raise has not been unanimously welcomed.  In its submission to the Low Pay Commission, which will recommend the rate, the British Chambers of Commerce says that the recession has seriously affected the employment of 16 and 17-year-olds. It forecasts that one in three will be jobless next year - perhaps not that surprising in a recession:

The rates from 1 October 2009 will be:

Trevor Bottomley
Employment & Labour Market Adviser
Central London Connexions
October 2009