200,000 New Work Experience Places: If Everyone Knew, Why Did We Wait Until Crisis?
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200,000 opportunities – but will we reach the young people who need them most?
The Government has announced a major drive to expand work experience for young people aged 14–16, calling on employers to help create an additional 200,000 placements.
Even No10 North in Manchester is set to offer work experience to young people.
Alongside this, the Government is setting out changes to technical and vocational education, including new Vocational GCSEs, designed to strengthen the connection between education, skills and employment.
At Genuine Futures, we welcome the direction.
But there is a much bigger question.
If we already know which young people are beginning to struggle at 11, 12, 13 and 14, why do we so often wait until they reach crisis before creating opportunity?
That question goes to the heart of our work.
And this week, two young people brought that message powerfully to life.
“Everyone Knew”
At the Bolton CVS Forum, Luis and Cameron from Genuine Futures stood in front of organisations from across Bolton and shared their experiences.
Their individual journeys are different.
But there was a powerful thread running through both:
Everyone knew.
People knew they were struggling.
People knew they were becoming disconnected.
People knew things weren’t right.
Yet meaningful opportunities and trusted relationships came much later.
Luis delivered a simple message:
“We’re not hard to reach. You just need to ask us and act early.”
Cameron’s message was equally important:
“It starts with one conversation and one seat at the table.”
These aren’t words from a strategy or policy document.
They come from young people who have experienced what happens when opportunities arrive too late.
And they should make every organisation working with children and young people ask:
If everyone knew, why did we act so late?
We cannot solve the NEET crisis at 18
For too long, much of our response to youth unemployment and disengagement has focused on what happens after a young person becomes NEET – not in education, employment or training.
But becoming NEET doesn’t suddenly happen on someone’s 18th birthday.
For some young people, the warning signs appear years earlier.
Attendance begins falling.
Confidence disappears.
Education stops feeling relevant.
Behaviour changes.
Isolation increases.
A young person stops believing there is a future for them.
Opportunities become fewer.
Eventually, another young person becomes a statistic.
Then we ask:
What happened?
Perhaps we need to ask a different question:
What could we have done earlier?
“People knew I was struggling too”
For Genuine Futures Founder and Co-Director Sam Smith, this message is deeply personal.
Sam’s own experience of disengagement, exclusion and the care and criminal justice systems began during childhood.
Speaking at the Bolton CVS Forum, Sam said:
“Everyone knew. People knew I was struggling when I was 11, 12, 13 and 14. So why are we waiting until young people reach crisis before we act?”
Decades later, young people are still describing experiences that raise similar questions.
That doesn’t mean nothing has changed.
But it does mean we need to keep asking whether support, relationships and opportunities are reaching young people early enough.
We cannot simply build better services at the bottom of the cliff.
We need stronger pathways before young people reach it.
Work experience can be part of prevention
This is why the Government’s work experience announcement matters.
But only if we make those opportunities meaningful.
Work experience cannot become another box to tick.
For the right young person, meeting the right employer at the right time could change how they see themselves and their future.
Imagine being 14 and struggling at school.
Then somebody gives you responsibility in a workplace.
You discover you’re good with customers.
Or good with your hands.
Or fixing things.
Creating content.
Working outdoors.
Talking to people.
Organising a team.
Solving practical problems.
Someone notices.
Someone tells you:
“You’re good at this.”
For a young person who may have spent years believing they are failing, those words can matter.
Meaningful work experience can help develop confidence, communication, teamwork, responsibility, problem-solving, customer service, workplace behaviours and practical skills.
It can introduce young people to employers and industries they didn’t know existed.
Most importantly, it can create hope, belonging and a sense of direction.
Education needs more than one pathway
Not every young person learns in the same way.
Some thrive academically.
Others discover their abilities through practical learning, enterprise, creativity, sport, construction, mechanics, digital media or working directly with people.
That isn’t about lowering expectations.
It is about recognising potential.
A young person struggling in a classroom today could become tomorrow’s electrician.
Mechanic.
Engineer.
Chef.
Digital creator.
Construction professional.
Youth worker.
Entrepreneur.
Or business owner.
The challenge is helping them discover that potential before disengagement becomes crisis.
We Shine Academy: turning enterprise into opportunity
This thinking sits behind the development of We Shine Academy at Genuine Futures.
At the heart of the model is our youth-led social enterprise, We Shine Any Car.
From the outside, somebody might simply see young people cleaning cars.
We see something very different.
We see young people learning customer service.
Working as a team.
Communicating with members of the public.
Understanding health and safety.
Taking responsibility.
Solving problems.
Developing enterprise skills.
Building confidence.
Meeting employers.
Earning trust.
Seeing the results of their work.
It isn’t really about cleaning cars.
It’s about creating a platform from which young people can move forward.
Building meaningful work experience in Bolton
The national work experience drive creates a real opportunity for Bolton.
Instead of schools, businesses, education providers and community organisations working separately, we should build a connected network of opportunity.
Imagine young people being able to experience:
We Shine Any Car – real youth enterprise, teamwork and customer experience.
Try a Trade – practical introductions to construction, trades and other industries.
Local businesses – meaningful employer encounters and workplace experiences.
Creative industries – podcasting, media, music and digital content.
Enterprise – developing ideas and understanding how businesses operate.
Boss Your Future – confidence, employability, personal development and progression.
The objective shouldn’t simply be to give a young person five days away from school.
It should help them answer one of the biggest questions facing them:
“What could my future look like?”
Employers need to be part of the solution
Schools cannot do this alone.
Neither can charities.
Neither can councils.
Neither can employers.
This requires collaboration.
Bolton has businesses, tradespeople, social enterprises and community organisations with knowledge, skills and environments capable of inspiring young people.
A garage could inspire a future mechanic.
A construction business could introduce somebody to their first trade.
A restaurant could uncover a future chef.
A creative company could discover untapped talent.
A social enterprise could inspire an entrepreneur.
And a local employer could provide something even more important:
The first adult outside a young person’s family or school who sees what they can become.
Sometimes the most important intervention isn’t another programme.
It is someone opening a door.
From “Everyone Knew” to “Everyone Acted”
Imagine something different.
Imagine Luis and Cameron’s generation being among the last who have to say:
“Everyone knew I was struggling.”
Imagine instead a young person being able to say:
“Everyone knew – and somebody acted.”
My teacher referred me early.
Someone listened.
An employer opened their door.
Someone introduced me to a trade.
A youth worker believed in me.
A business gave me responsibility.
Someone helped me discover what I was good at.
Someone gave me a seat at the table.
Someone helped me see a future.
That is prevention.
We need to look upstream
There is rightly huge concern about the number of young people outside education, employment and training.
But responding to those already in crisis is only part of the answer.
We also need to ask:
How do we prevent the next generation from getting there?
That starts before 18.
Before long-term unemployment.
Before prolonged disengagement.
Before exploitation.
Before offending.
Before hopelessness.
It starts when the warning signs first appear.
And it requires schools, employers, local authorities, communities, families, social enterprises and young people themselves to work together.
Let’s build a network of opportunity in Bolton
Genuine Futures wants to work with partners across Bolton and Greater Manchester to turn the national ambition for work experience into meaningful local opportunities.
We want to hear from schools and Alternative Provision settings looking for practical and meaningful work experience.
We want businesses and employers willing to open their doors.
We want tradespeople who could introduce a young person to their industry through Try a Trade.
We want careers and education partners interested in creating stronger pathways between education and employment.
We want funders and commissioners willing to invest in prevention rather than waiting for crisis.
We want to hear from parents and carers looking for different opportunities for their young people.
And most importantly, we want young people themselves at the table.
Because we don’t need another disconnected system.
We need a connected pathway to opportunity.
Everyone Knew. Now Let’s Make Sure Everyone Acts.
The announcement of 200,000 additional work experience placements represents an opportunity.
But numbers alone won’t change lives.
What matters is who we reach, how early we reach them and what happens after that first opportunity.
The national mission can create the framework.
Our communities have to turn it into action.
At Genuine Futures, we believe the goal should be bigger than helping young people once they become NEET.
We should be working together to prevent them from getting there in the first place.
Everyone knew.
Now let’s make sure everyone acts.
Prevention before crisis.
Bridging the gap to opportunity.
Work With Genuine Futures
If you’re a school, employer, business, tradesperson, community organisation, commissioner or funder and want to help create meaningful work experience, enterprise opportunities and employment pathways for young people in Bolton, we’d like to hear from you.
Let’s build the network of opportunity young people deserve – and make sure opportunity arrives before crisis, not after it.
Genuine Futures CIC
Bridging the gap to opportunity.