People’s Postcode Lottery’s getting us fit for our working life

NICO McCATHIE and Kyron Downie, both 16, were disillusioned at school and desperately seeking a positive way forward when Street League stepped in.

While we all wish young people left school with a sense of direction, purpose and optimism, that’s not always the case and, like many youngsters on the cusp of adulthood, the two boys needed guidance and practical help.

Thanks to a 10-week fitness programme in Wester Hailes, Edinburgh, that includes a work placement with People’s Postcode Lottery, both boys are now happier and have more confidence in their future.

Kyron has loved going to the gym and following a programme and says: “I’m training hard to get a better body and I feel myself getting stronger.

“It’s great waking up the next day and feeling sore because you know you have put in the effort.”

Similarly, Nico wasn’t enjoying school and left as soon as he turned 16, with the ambition of joining the Army but for now he’s currently in the Army Cadet Force.

“I’d love to join the Army but first I would rather get a job that will help me keep up fitness and gym work.

“Now I’ve learned how to do a CV and have been given advice on how to act in interviews and around the workplace.”

Youth unemployment remains a massive problem in the UK and up to one in four 16 to 24-year-olds are unemployed in the areas where Street League works.

This is a huge cost to the taxpayer and society, not to mention the long-term consequences of unemployment on mental and physical wellbeing.

Street League says this is unacceptable, and its vision is to see an end to youth unemployment.

Euan MacDermid, Street League’s progressions co-ordinator in Edinburgh, says: “Many of the young people come out of school and feel pressured about what they want to do but few people know at that stage. We try to take that pressure away and give them training opportunities and a platform for a better employment future.”