‘Sport can be so powerful’ United Bristol aims to inspire young people

MAJOR new city-wide project to tackle the issue of young people who leave school and don’t go on to college, an apprenticeship or a job has been launched by three of Bristol's biggest sporting charities.

- TRISTAN CORK

It's called United Bristol - and will see an extra £2 million of regional funding go to help more than 1,000 young people across the city.

The project is the coming together of Bristol City’s Robins Foundation, the Bristol Bears Foundation and Easton-based boxing club's charitable arm Empire Fighting Chance, who will work together to support young people and signpost them to their futures - be that jobs, training, apprenticeships or education.

The issue of NEETs - young people who are ‘Not in Education, Employment or Training’ is growing in this country, with the latest figures showing that more than a million young people are currently without a job or in training or education in the UK.

In Bristol, last year a Sutton Trust report found that the Bristol South and Bristol East parliamentary constituencies, which stretches from Eastville across to Stockwood and Hartcliffe, were two of the worst 10 places in the country where young people had opportunities to get into good jobs, apprenticeships, college, university after they left school.