Get Into Tech – Ground-breaking Employment Programme for Young Adults in West Yorkshire

IVE and young people’s charity The Prince’s Trust together with Google, have collaborated to pilot a new programme for Leeds City Region. ‘Get into Tech’ creates new routes into the rapidly growing tech industries. The programme is a dynamic 3 month course including Google’s IT Support Certificate and fortnightly employability workshops.

In this initial pilot, the aim has been to equip people with the skills needed for training or employment, whilst leading the way in diversifying talent into tech, digital and IT. The programme provides young adults with 21st century innovation skills and behaviours, including
creative problem solving and critical thinking.

Team winners -Leiya, Joseph, Henry and Francis (left to right) celebrate success by cutting the cake!

Chris Strong, Director of Skills and Employability at IVE said “Creative employees are vital to innovation, productivity and growth. IVE’s commitment to this programme was to develop adaptable open-minded individuals for the rapidly changing demands of a future-ready workforce. We wanted to switch on the human creativity that drives new ideas and innovation. We also wanted to improve accessibility, so that companies can draw on talent from the widest range of backgrounds – diverse people bring diverse perspectives and are more likely to produce high performing teams.”

The Princes Trust recruited the participants and are providing ongoing mentoring, coaching and support. The course was promoted across West Yorkshire attracting people mainly from Bradford and Leeds. Lucy Gifford, The Prince’s Trust, Head of Operations, Yorkshire & Humber, said – “We are excited to be working in partnership with IVE to equip unemployed young people in Leeds with the skills and confidence to live, learn and earn. The Prince’s Trust is now supporting the young people over the coming 12 weeks to complete their Google Certificate. By providing young people with the opportunity to develop their career, we’re confident this programme will help young people to succeed!”

The group experienced talks and presentations from a range of industry professionals. In particular, Lianne Potter from Technically Speaking Leeds was Championing women and diversity in tech. “The calibre was so high and I was extremely impressed by them. This pilot scheme is aimed at people with and without degrees who are looking to get into tech. It looks fantastic and I wish them lots of luck as they progress to the Google part of their course!’ – Lianne Potter

*The programme started on the 30th September and provides continued support for the young adults involved.

For information on future programmes or if you would like to get involved at IVE, please contact: SharonL@weareve.org