Youth skills organisation winding up
Oct 31 2007 by Peter McCusker, The Journal
AN organisation formed to retain skilled young workers in the region is being wound up. Aspire was created in 2004 with the aim of stopping the brain drain of talented North-Easterners to the South.
After spending £3m in that time – and seeing its first boss leave unexpectedly – it will soon be no more.
Its work will be taken over by a new national organisation The 14-19 Commission, whose chairwoman is former Education Secretary Estelle Morris.
Aspire was launched in 2004 with the personal backing of Prime Minister Tony Blair, in the light of statistics showing 60% of young people in the North-East believed they would have to leave the region to fulfil their careers.
An Aspire spokeswoman said that it was too early to say if it had achieved any measurable targets, but she added that it had been successful in bringing about a cultural change in the way employers viewed training and recruiting younger employees.
“Aspire laid the foundations for culture change. A large number of businesses have engaged in the campaign,” she said.
“These included businesses signed up, those who said they were supportive of Aspire and its aims, those who reported that they acted as ambassadors for Aspire, and those who encouraged other businesses to sign up.”
The 14-19 Commission is funded by One NorthEast, the Learning and Skills Council and the Government Office for the North-East. It has evolved out of the 14-19 Task Force and its aim is “to ensure that every young person in the region is helped to find learning and work that is right for them”.
Mary Coyle, chief executive of Aspire will stand down later this year. She said: “Young people are our future and to maximise their potential we need to work together to have a bigger impact. I am excited about the prospect of this vital change being taken forward long term in the region.”
It was previously led by the CBI and the North-East Chamber of Commerce with funding and backing from right across the region’s public sector.
Maggie Pavlou, president of the chamber of commerce and current chairwoman of Aspire, said: “Aspire was an early pioneer in setting the regional agenda for business engagement in raising career aspirations of young people. The issue has now merged clearly with the central Government agenda.
“The time is now right to embed the principles and good practice of Aspire within the larger regional context. The 14-19 Commission will benefit greatly from its research and campaign activities across the last few years.”
Baroness Morris said: “The 14-19 Commission will further strengthen the work that is needed in the region to galvanise the relationships between education and business.”
In its first year Aspire had a staff of five, but it now employs just two people. Among the first and highest profile departures was its first executive director Deborah Carrington. Her surprise resignation was followed by a statement from the organisation that it had decided to re-focus direction.
