Giving disadvantaged young people the skills and confidence they need to become employable
We help disadvantaged young people escape a future of low self-esteem, poverty, and being excluded from society. We do this by helping them to develop the self-confidence, skills and experience they need to fulfil their potential and become employable.
Work the Change is an employability training programme for young people in the UK designed to ease the school-to-work transition. Helping young people understand what employers are looking for and how they can assess their own skills and experiences. The programme itself is CV-worthy, honing communication, presentation and teamwork skills and requiring proactivity and professionalism.
Through self-assessment, this module asks students to identify their hobbies and interests and look at how they can build life skills to improve confidence and self-esteem.
By identifying the qualifications needed to pursue their dream career, this module challenges students to think about and develop non-academic skills that employers are looking for.
This module asks students what they can do now to develop their CV and take control of their own progress, in preparation for the job market.
Through hands-on activities students learn about the importance of teamwork, planning, initiative and problem solving.
"14-15 year olds can relate to 16-18 year olds far more than teachers. The 16-18 year olds were passionate and enthusiastic and they connected with the 14-15 year olds"
- Teacher
"It gave both those leading the classes and those taking part something to be proud of"
- Teacher
"It helped me reflect about myself - a greater ability to stand up in front of others and a better understanding of how to build and maximise my own strengths"
- Mentor
"It was good having the opportunity to take leading, organising and being confident to make your own decisions"
- Mentored Student
What impact does Peace Child make?
What are the proven results?
Peace Child developed this project working extensively with youth and educational experts and with young people across the UK. The project has already transformed the lives of over 2000 young people across the UK.
Why is Peace Child needed?
Across the UK, thousands of young people from disadvantaged backgrounds leave school without the skills and experience they need to get a job. As a result of being unemployable, they get trapped in a vicious cycle of poverty. This is damaging for them, for their families and for their communities. Peace Child addresses this problem by empowering young people from socially and economically deprived backgrounds. It gives young people the self-confidence, skills and experience they need to become employable.
How does Peace Child help?
Peace Child trains young people aged 16-18 to help them identify what skills and experience they need to become employable and to increase their self-confidence. These young people, supported by highly skilled trainers, go on to deliver the training to younger pupils aged 14-15, helping them to gain more in-depth knowledge and understanding of the skills needed to secure employment. This unique, youth-focused, peer-to-peer approach makes the programme highly effective as young people engage more with their peers than with adult-led training. This approach also ensures the programme is sustainable.
What it involves
We run a one-day training for 16-18 year olds, which teaches them how to deliver employability workshops to their younger peers. These 16-18 year olds are dubbed mentors, and when their training is complete, they deliver the workshops, under our supervision, to the 14-15 year olds. Following on from these workshops, we also provide up to ten mentorship sessions for those 14-15 year old students requiring additional support in confidence-building and gaining vital skills.
PCI visits school and meets with Heads of 16-18 year olds and 14-15 year olds to find out what the school is already doing and discuss the programme.
PCI runs a one day training for 16-18 year olds on the workshops they will present to their 14-15 year old peers
Introduced by a short assembly, 14-15 year old students are split into classes and revolve from one module to the next, delivered by the 16-18 year olds with trained PCI staff overseeing activities.
Following on from workshops, we also provide up to ten mentorship sessions for the 14-15 year old students requiring additional support in confidence-building and gaining vital skills.
Enhance the employability of young people in your school, children’s home or homeless shelter