Close the Gap Funding appeal to address city youth unemployment

A BRISTOL-BASED social enterprise that supports young people from ethnic minority and low-income backgrounds has launched a fundraising appeal to address “the worsening youth unemployment crisis”.

- Hannah BAKER

Babbasa said funds raised through the CloseTheGap campaign would be used to deliver youth support programmes, including skills training, workshops and mentoring.

According to the Ofrfice for National Statistics there were 643,000 young people in the UK, aged 16 to 24, who were unemployed between December 2024 and February 2025 - 105,000 more than the previous year.

Latest Bristol City Council statistics show that 4.4% of 16 to 17 year olds in Bristol are not in education, employment or training (NEET) and 2.2% are current situation not known (CSNK). In total, this is 6.6%, which is higher than the national average (5.4%).