Bolton NEET Taskforce: A Local Plan for Young People
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Bolton’s young people need more than concern about rising NEET figures. They need trusted support, practical opportunities and clear routes into education, employment, training and enterprise.
That is why Genuine Futures is launching the Bolton NEET Taskforce. We are bringing local organisations and young people together to turn shared concern into coordinated action. The Taskforce will be grounded in Bolton, informed by lived experience and focused on practical steps that help young people move forward.
One important outcome will be a clearer pathway for young people who could benefit from
Boss Your Future, our 12-week programme for young people aged 15–24 who are NEET or at risk of becoming disconnected from education and work. Boss Your Future will be one pathway within a wider local response, alongside education, training, employment, enterprise and other support.
This is about taking responsibility locally and making sure young people can find a trusted person, a useful opportunity and a next step that fits their goals.
Sam Smith, Co-Director of Genuine Futures, grew up in Bolton. He said: “I grew up in Bolton, and I was written off at 13. I know what it feels like when people see a label instead of potential. Bolton’s young people deserve to be heard and supported into real opportunities. The taskforce is about bringing partners together with young people to turn concern into practical action.”
Why Bolton needs a coordinated response
The scale of the national challenge is serious. The latest Office for National Statistics estimate recorded 981,000 young people aged 16–24 across the UK as NEET between April and June 2026, representing 13% of that age group. While the estimate fell from the previous quarter, it was still 30,000 higher than the same period a year earlier. Read the ONS figures.
Bolton’s own data shows why local action matters. Department for Education figures for March 2026 recorded 4.1% of Bolton’s 16- and 17-year-olds as NEET, with a further 0.3% whose activity was not known. The combined NEET or activity-not-known figure was 4.3%. These figures are management information and should be treated with care. They cover 16- and 17-year-olds, so they do not describe the full experience of young people aged 18–24. View the DfE local authority data.
Numbers can show part of the picture, but they cannot explain what sits behind an individual young person’s situation. They do not tell us whether someone is facing anxiety, exclusion, poor health, caring responsibilities, unstable housing, a lack of transport, a difficult transition from school, or repeated rejection when trying to access support. They cannot show what a young person is good at, what they hope for, or which opportunity might help them reconnect.
That is why we need both reliable information and trusted relationships. Partners need to be able to identify gaps, listen to young people and connect them to support before the situation becomes more difficult.
What will the Bolton NEET Taskforce do?
The Taskforce will bring together organisations and people who have different roles in a young person’s life. This could include the local authority, schools and colleges, Connexions, youth organisations, employers, health services, youth justice, community groups, housing providers and organisations supporting care-experienced young people.
Its purpose is straightforward: make it easier for local partners to work together around young people’s needs and ambitions. That means understanding the support already available, identifying where there are gaps or confusing handovers, and agreeing practical actions that can improve access to opportunity.
- Identify where young people are struggling to find or take up their next step.
- Connect organisations that may be supporting the same young person or community.
- Develop earlier routes into trusted help for young people at risk of becoming disconnected.
- Open up opportunities to try work, training, enterprise and vocational learning.
- Listen to young people’s feedback and use it to improve local pathways.
- Agree actions, identify who will take them forward and report back on progress.
The Taskforce needs to be focused on action. It should not become another meeting that produces more discussion without changing anything. Every priority should lead to a clear next step, a named organisation or partner to progress it, and a way to see whether it made a difference.
Bolton already has services, groups and partnerships supporting young people. The Taskforce should build on that work, bring people together where it will help, and address gaps that young people and frontline organisations identify. It should complement the local authority’s participation and tracking responsibilities by strengthening the wider local response.
Young people must help shape the response
A local response will only be credible if young people can influence it. Young people should help identify the barriers they face, set priorities for the Taskforce and review whether the actions agreed are useful.
Two young people helping bring the Taskforce to life are Cameron Hughes, 20, a Boss Your Future graduate, and Luis Green, 21, a Genuine Futures Youth Voice Champion. Their experiences were recently shared in ABC Australia’s Foreign Correspondent programme, The Burnham Gamble.
Cameron said: “Before Genuine Futures, I’d been lost for over two years. I didn’t really know what I was doing or where I was going.”
After joining Boss Your Future, Cameron began taking part in practical community activity and building workplace experience. His story shows why a referral should lead to a relationship and real opportunities to take part.
Luis said: “For a long time, I felt left behind. Being given a voice like this shows young people that we do matter, and that our experiences count.”
As a Youth Voice Champion, Luis is using his experience and communication skills to help other young people feel that their views matter. Their voices reflect why young people should have a real role in shaping the Taskforce and reviewing the actions partners take.
That involvement must be meaningful. Young people should be able to see what partners heard, what they decided and what changed. They need clear information about the purpose of meetings, a welcoming space, accessible ways to contribute and support to take part. Their time and contribution should be valued.
Lived experience can help partners understand why a route that looks straightforward on paper may not feel accessible to a young person. Trust, confidence, mental health, disability, care experience, previous exclusion, caring responsibilities and practical barriers such as travel can all affect whether someone feels able to take up an offer. Listening carefully can help us design support that makes sense in the real world.
Young people also bring strengths, ideas and ambition. The Taskforce should make room for those contributions and help create opportunities where young people can demonstrate what they can do.
Building a clearer referral pathway into Boss Your Future
A key practical aim is to create a clearer route for young people who may benefit from Boss Your Future.
Boss Your Future is a 12-week programme for young people aged 15–24 who are NEET or at risk of becoming disconnected from education and employment. It helps participants explore their strengths, build confidence, develop employability skills and consider pathways into work, education and enterprise.
Partners often meet young people before they are ready to approach a programme themselves. A teacher, youth worker, family support worker, social prescriber or community organisation may be the first trusted person to notice that a young person is becoming isolated, losing confidence or unsure what to do next. A clear referral route can help that conversation lead to timely support.
The Taskforce can work with partners to agree a simple process that explains who Boss Your Future is designed for, how a young person can be referred or make contact, what information is needed, who will follow up and what happens next. It can also help partners understand when another local service or opportunity may be a better fit.
A referral should be a warm handover, not just a form passed between organisations. Young people should understand what information is being shared, why it is needed and who will receive it. Their knowledge and consent must be respected, and the process should be straightforward. Where appropriate and agreed with the young person, the referring partner should be able to find out whether contact was made, so no one is left wondering if the connection happened.
Building this pathway does not mean every young person should be directed to the same programme. People have different ambitions, needs and starting points. Some may be ready for Boss Your Future; others may need a college course, an apprenticeship, mental health support, a taster session, mentoring, employment advice or another route. The Taskforce can help partners understand the local offer so young people are connected to support that fits them.
Turning experience into opportunity
Genuine Futures has seen how progress can begin when a young person is met with encouragement, trust and a chance to take part. Through Boss Your Future, young people have explored employment, education and enterprise. Their ideas and work have contributed to youth-led ventures including We Shine Any Car and Clean Futures.
Mike Alleyne, Co-Director of Genuine Futures, said: “We know what it feels like to be written off. That’s why we do things differently here. We don’t see problems—we see potential.”
Enterprise can be a practical way to develop skills, build confidence and contribute to the local economy. It can give young people the chance to try out an idea, learn by doing, work with others and see how their effort can create value. For some, enterprise may become a source of income; for others, the experience may help them recognise strengths that they can take into employment or education.
There is no single route that works for everyone. For one young person, the next step may be a college place or a job. For another, it may be work experience, a skills session, a trusted adult, volunteering or trying out a business idea. The Taskforce should help partners open up more of these opportunities and make them easier to reach.
Progress can start with a first conversation, attending an activity, building a routine or gaining the confidence to meet an employer. Those steps matter. They can create the foundation for a young person to move towards a sustained next step in education, employment or training.
From shared commitment to practical action
Genuine Futures is launching the Bolton NEET Taskforce because we believe Bolton can do more when local organisations work together with young people at the centre.
The first step is to bring interested partners and young people together to agree the Taskforce’s purpose, identify its initial priorities and decide how young people will shape its work. Partners can then map existing provision, identify gaps and develop a clear referral pathway into Boss Your Future and other local support.
The Taskforce should agree how it will review progress. Useful measures could include how quickly a young person is contacted after a referral, whether they take up an opportunity, what support they say has helped and whether they move into a sustained next step. Young people’s feedback should be part of that review. The aim is to learn and improve, not reduce a young person’s progress to one number.
We will be inviting local organisations to help establish the Taskforce and agree its first actions. We are particularly keen to hear from young people, schools and colleges, community and youth organisations, employers, health and care partners, and services supporting young people through transitions.
Help shape the Bolton NEET Taskforce
Bolton has talented young people, experienced organisations, committed employers and community assets. The challenge is to connect those strengths so that young people can find a route forward and know who to turn to.
If you are a young person who wants to help shape the Taskforce, or an organisation ready to work with us, we would like to hear from you. If you are supporting a young person who may benefit from Boss Your Future, contact us to discuss the programme and referral process.
Watch the launch video: The Burnham Gamble: Bolton’s Lost Generation and the Bolton NEET Taskforce.
Contact Genuine Futures at hello@genuinefutures.co.uk.
Together, we can build a more connected Bolton response—one that listens early, opens doors and helps more young people move towards a future they choose.
Bolton’s young people deserve opportunity, belonging and a fair chance to shine.