Participants are mentored by professional tradespeople and can gain vocational accreditations as well as access to further training, work placement and apprenticeship opportunities.
The majority of young people who take part and benefit are disengaged or excluded from mainstream education and training, at risk of disengagement, and/or unemployed.
We also deliver ‘early intervention’ construction sector employability skills and careers training for 10-14 year olds in schools.
To coincide with International Volunteer Day (5th December) 2020, VIY and Sport England are pleased to announce a new three-year, £2million partnership involving 4,000+ young volunteers helping to renovate and improve 225 grassroots sports clubs and other active community spaces and places in need.
More than 60% of the projects will be located in local communities among the 20% most deprived nationally.
Projects will also be match-funded and delivered in collaboration with other stakeholders such as national sports governing bodies, local authorities, and building and construction sector employers, as well as key VIY partners Dulux and Travis Perkins.
Sport England Director of Sport Phil Smith said: “Local sports clubs and venues have never been more important. They provide places to play and ways to stay fit, while bringing communities together in a tough time. This partnership between Sport England and VY will play a significant role in helping make our sports facilities better, while giving the many brilliant young people involved the chance to develop new vocational skills and boost their employment prospects.”
Channel 4 presenter Guy Martin and a camera crew recently visited four VIY project sites and the resulting four short films are now live on All 4/Channel 4 online - well worth a watch!
Guy is keen to encourage more young people to learn vocational trade skills and wanted to meet, and work alongside, young people doing just that at VIY projects across the country.
"I met great lads and lasses volunteering on all four projects. Their enthusiasm was a brilliant reflection of what the VIY scheme is all about. They all just just wanted to get on with it." - Guy Martin
Watch now
As a complete novice, Kayleigh, from Hackney, took part in skills sessions at VIY’s north London Hub project, on the Northumberland Park Estate in Haringey, in 2015. Through her participation she achieved City & Guilds Entry Level 3 accreditations in carpentry and plumbing, and her VIY experience inspired her to start a construction skills course…
