Young people lonely if they’re unoccupied

AS we continue to live through a period of social, economic and political uncertainty, worries about the future are a daily news topic, but how is it affecting our next generation of adults?

It was recently reported by The Prince’s Trust Cymru that more than half of young people in Wales aged 16-25 had experienced a mental health problem, and that levels of happiness among young people had reached their lowest ebb in four years.

These figures coincided with findings from The Office for National Statistics last week, which revealed levels of loneliness in 16- to 24-year-olds to be higher than in any other age group. While it has been suggested that social media and video games are making young people feel lonely, which is true, there are other contributory factors that also should not be forgotten.

The annual Prince’s Trust Macquarie Youth Index report, released earlier this month, shows that young people are more likely to feel lonely if they are not in employment, education or training, if they are from lowincome households, or if they underachieved at school.

A holistic approach must be taken across society to address these issues if we really want to tackle the problem of loneliness in young people.

The results are extremely worrying; however, this survey underscores the need for the work of The Trust in Wales. More than ever, many young people need help to get into education, employment or training, which are proved to have a positive impact on mental health.

In 2014 BT launched its Work Ready programme specifically for NEETS (not in education, employment or training).

To date more than 3,500 people from around the UK have participated and more than half have gone on to either gain employment or return to education.

At this time, many businesses have reported that they can’t find enough young people with the right skills. By investing in basic, technical or

soft skills, we will not only help our young people in Wales to fulfil their undeniable potential, but also help our economy to grow.

We regularly run free work placements in Wales, in locations such as Cardiff and Bangor.

More information can be found at www.bt.com/workready Alwen Williams, Director of BT Cymru Wales, and a Prince’s Trust Cymru Council Member