Leicester College set to train Youth Social Action apprentice

Leicester College is delighted to announce that it will be training a Youth Social Action (YSA) apprentice, in partnership with the Pears Foundation and Association of Colleges.

YSA sees students participate in activities which impact their college and the local community whilst also developing their skills for the future. This is the second phase of this initiative: the first apprentices completed their Level 3 Youth Social Worker qualification in 2022. Throughout their course, they collectively engaged 10,870 students in youth social action and built relationships with 424 local organisations and 118 national partners. This meant that around 18,496 members of the community benefited from their work.

The new apprentices will follow in their footsteps and will empower students to take action and address local issues and create opportunities to undertake meaningful work experience around social action.

They will be employed and study at Leicester College where their role will be to coordinate and manage youth social action activities. They will split their time equally to work in a further two local partnership colleges, Nottingham College and Derby College, carrying out activities which will be student-led and in collaboration with community organisations and charities to ensure wide participation, impact and sustainability. They will also look to engage with local employers for support.

The apprenticeship will last 18 months and learners will have the opportunity to engage students volunteering in social action activities, including those from a wide range of backgrounds.

Lee Barrett, head of personal development at Leicester College said: “This collaborative project will provide our students with a range of experiences to become more socially responsible. At the same time, it will develop their cultural capital and support them to build the skills needed for life and work. I am thrilled to be leading this project for the College and cannot wait to see the impact it has.”

Dean Hardman, director of sport and student experience, said: “We are delighted that the youth social action programme has been extended for another phase. The first phase was hugely successful, and we are so proud of what the apprentices – Olivia, Kathryn, Florence, Aldrich, and Nathan – achieved, and know they will be brilliant mentors to our new apprentices this year. We are looking forward to supporting the new apprentices, and ambassador colleges to bring about positive and long-lasting change for their communities.