Covid: Bristol digital platform helps boost young people’s job skills

Azélie Bourassa said the scheme was helping young people who had seen opportunities taken away or reduced

Young people whose prospects have been impacted by Covid-19 are benefitting from a work experience scheme.

Freestyle Bristol is an online platform run by young people aiming to allow participants to learn new skills.

Producer Azélie Bourassa said organisations like this were needed after a "tough year".

"Young people have been hit the hardest in many ways because of how many opportunities have been taken away or reduced," she added.

Omar Antonio Powel said Freestyle Bristol had given him the chance to experiment with filming and build connections in the industry.

"Now I'm working with other people that are going to shadow me and I shadow them and develop my skills further in video," the 27-year-old photographer said.

Photographer Omar Antonio Powel is developing his skills in video

Founder and youth worker, Delroy Hibbert, said the aim was "to be really flexible so that young people can come to us with their ideas" of what they want to learn or improve upon.

Events management student Louise Whittaker, 20, said being able to add the work experience to her job applications was a bonus and that it had "definitely given me valuable skills".

In September last year, the government started a £2bn programme called Kickstart Scheme which Chancellor Rishi Sunak explained was aimed at creating more jobs for young people so as to prevent a generation being "left behind".

Louise Whittaker said the scheme had given her "valuable skills"

The scheme subsidises six-month work placements for people on Universal Credit aged between 16 and 24, who are deemed to be at risk of long-term unemployment.

Minister for Employment, Mims Davies, said: "Over the last month, almost 600 people started a Kickstart job each working day and more vacancies are going live all the time."