In response to the enormous impact of the pandemic on young people’s lives – the Scottish Government launched the Young Person’s Guarantee. The Guarantee offers all 16-24-year-olds the opportunity of a job, apprenticeship, education, training, or volunteering.

Young Person’s Guarantee Youth Leadership Panel

At Young Scot, we’ve been supporting 16-24-year-old volunteers from different backgrounds and experiences to take part in the Young Person’s Guarantee Leadership Panel. Since last year, the young people have been exploring the governance for the Guarantee – helping to ensure it meets the evolving needs of young people. They’ve also been shaping the Guarantee and decision-making processes by sharing their views with the Scottish Government.

We spoke to some of the young people and asked them what motivated them to join up and what they hope to achieve by taking part.

The next phase of the programme

It’s been a year since we started supporting young people to help inform and steer the direction of the Young Person’s Guarantee. Recently, we’ve recently recruited new volunteers to join us in the second phase of the project and held an induction session to welcome them to Young Scot. They’ll soon begin reviewing the Guarantee’s ‘seven priority areas’ identified earlier in the programme – ensuring the Guarantee continues to develop and be beneficial for young people in Scotland.

The young people will also be feeding into the Fair Work Nation Consultation by reviewing it and responding as a whole group. They will also be taking part in an insight session with the Scottish Government marketing team to inform the upcoming marketing campaign around the promotion of Young Person’s Guarantee – taking place in early 2022.

Sandy Begbie, CEO, Scottish Financial Enterprise said: “Since I was asked to implement the Young Person’s Guarantee I’ve been clear that its delivery should be shaped by and for young people. The Youth Leadership Panel have played a crucial part in bringing this commitment to life through the development of their seven priority areas and working with the different policy areas in Scottish Government. I want to thank Young Scot and the young people themselves for their support. I’m absolutely committed to ensuring that young people’s voices are at the heart of the Guarantee and am happy to work in partnership with the Youth Leadership Panel to do so.”

Find out more

If you would like to find out more about the Young Person’s Guarantee, or you know a young person who might benefit from the Guarantee, click here https://www.myworldofwork.co.uk/youngpersonsguarantee