What Do You Hope For? Why Bolton’s Young People Need Us More Than Ever

Posted on: 10th December 2025 | 4 min

Across Bolton, thousands of young people are carrying hopes that feel increasingly out of reach. With 1,770 young people now NEET (Not in Education, Employment or Training), the borough is facing a youth crisis that we can no longer ignore.

And yet—when we ask young people the simplest question, their answers show us something powerful.

They still have hope.

Hope for opportunity.
Hope for safety.
Hope for a chance to prove themselves.
Hope for a community that believes in them.

At Genuine Futures, we’ve spent years listening to young people through our outreach, enterprise programmes, and the Young Futures Hub. We learned a long time ago that hope is not a soft word. Hope is a direction. Hope is a strategy. Hope is action waiting to happen.

That’s why we’re launching our new movement:

What Do You Hope For?

It builds on the work we’ve already done through What Do You Stand For?, but takes the conversation further — inviting young people, parents, schools, local councillors, and community partners to imagine the Bolton we want to build together.

The Reality: NEET Numbers Are Rising Fast

The number of young people who are not in education, employment, or training is now at its highest level in years. Behind this statistic are real stories:

Young people leaving school without qualifications
Care-experienced young people sleeping on sofas or moving between placements
Teenagers stuck in their bedrooms, isolated and losing confidence
Young people exposed to grooming, exploitation, and the criminal justice system
Families overwhelmed and unsure where to turn

This is not just a youth challenge — it is a system-wide challenge.

Without early support, NEET status becomes a long-term pattern that affects wellbeing, employability, health, community safety, and the local economy. But with the right intervention, delivered at the right time, everything changes.

What Young People Tell Us They Hope For

Through our programmes — Boss Your Future, We Shine Any Car, Taste of Enterprise, We Scrap Anything, and the daily life inside theYoung Futures Hub — young people repeatedly share the same hopes:

“I hope someone will believe in me.”
“I hope I can make something of my life.”
“I hope there’s an opportunity for me in Bolton.”
“I hope I can get away from the wrong crowds.”
“I hope I can be proud of myself.”

Hope is alive — even in those who’ve been failed the most.

What We Hope For at Genuine Futures

We hope for a Bolton where:

• No young person feels written off.
Where being NEET isn’t the end — it’s the beginning of a new pathway.

• Early intervention is prioritised, not crisis response.
Where a young person gets support at 15, not at 18 after entering the justice system.

• Lived-experience leadership shapes real change.
Our team has walked the same streets, faced the same challenges, and knows how to reach young people who feel lost.

• Enterprise becomes a gateway to confidence and purpose.
Young people learn skills, earn money, and experience success in real-world environments.

• Community and council work side by side.
A borough where youth voice is part of every decision — not an afterthought.

Our Programmes Turn Hope Into Action

At Genuine Futures, hope becomes practical, hands-on progress:

Boss Your Future

Enterprise, employability, self-belief, and personal development.

We Shine Any Car

A youth-led car care enterprise giving young people real work experience, structure, income and responsibility.

We Scrap Anything

Environmental action, community engagement, and paid micro-enterprise experience.

Taste of Enterprise

Young people create and run their own businesses from scratch.

Young Futures Hub

A safe, inspiring base where young people find support, mentoring, creative opportunities, purpose — and a place to belong.

This is more than a programme.
It is a movement.

Why Bolton Needs a United Response

No single organisation can solve rising NEET levels alone.
This requires a partnership approach involving:

Schools
Councillors
Community groups
Youth Justice
Early Help
Businesses
Funders
Local parents and families

Every part of Bolton has a role to play in building a future where young people can thrive.

Young people don’t need saving — they need backing. They need opportunity, belonging, and a chance to shine.

The Call to Bolton: What Do You Hope For?

So we ask you — as a parent, a professional, a young person, a business owner, or a councillor:

What do you hope for?
What kind of Bolton do you want our young people to grow up in?
What future do you believe in?

Hope becomes powerful the moment we act on it.
And together, we can build a borough where every young person has the opportunity to shape a life they’re proud of.