The huge wins of a local initiative to get young people into work, on display at the recent ‘Inspire to Aspire’ Westland jobs expo, were captured in an uplifting new video released today by the Mayors Taskforce for Jobs (MTFJ).

“The MTFJ team in Westland have created something special and the ‘Inspire to Aspire’ careers expo showcased how Westland District Council is working successfully in partnership with local employers, schools and Government agencies to support young people into jobs,” says MTFJ chair, Mayor Max Baxter.

Westland District Council’s MTFJ team, created the ‘Inspire to Aspire’ Careers Event, which was the first of its kind to take place in the Westland district.  The event brought together over 500 school students and members of the wider West Coast community, to explore employment and tertiary pathways promoted by the exhibits of 23 employers and trainers.  It was also a chance celebrate the success of Westland District Council MTFJ programme in supporting 85 employment outcomes and 25 training opportunities for locals under the partnership with MSD.

The event came to fruition after the Westland MTFJ team learned that there had not been a Careers Expo held locally for over three years.

It’s all connected to the Mayors Taskforce for Jobs Community Recovery Programme, a partnership with the Ministry of Social Development (MSD) that sees central government funding deployed to 23 rural councils, to drive sustainable employment opportunities, which has resulted in over 900 employment outcomes over the year. 

The partnership is seeing huge results on the West Coast, as rural mayors are leading the charge to match young people not in education, employment or training (NEET) and kiwis displaced by Covid-19, into work.

Beginning in June 2020, three rural councils – Buller, Grey and Westland – have matched over 220 mostly young people and COVID-19 displaced kiwis with work, through the partnership.

“MTFJ has been absolutely unique in connecting our young people with local employers.  This programme is just outstanding. You can’t get a better investment than a motivated apprentice, or a young person.  Everyone starts somewhere,” says Mayor Bruce Smith of Westland District Council.

Mayor Baxter adds, “As we move into the next year of the Community Recovery Programme, we want to support more participating councils to host these type of Career Expo’s, to mobilise their small-to-medium sized employer network and open up the eyes of their youth to local job opportunities.”

EquiP were engaged to capture footage from the day, including interviews with youth who had found employment under MTFJ, employers and the action from the Inspire to Aspire event.  The video can be found on the MTFJ website and interviews will also be released on MTFJ’s social media platforms.

You can find the video here on the MTFJ website here