Good Practices
Young people stand tall and proud after Licence to Work journey
The biggest compliment we have been paid is when we asked a group of young people what it was about this programme that brought about the change in them, they said: “you believe in us Miss”.
Taupo Pathways for Youth Employment Manager Gaeleen Wilkie shares why the Licence to Work programme benefits young people. Licence to Work is currently run in Taupo-nui-a-Tia College and Tauhara College.
Wow, what a ride! It has been a big learning curve, it’s been hard going at times, but hugely rewarding. We had been working with young people for a while and where having some wonderful successes, but felt there was a gap for young people who didn’t have the skills and tools they needed to transition to employment. We spent quite a bit of time looking for a programme that was robust and we felt could bring about the change in young people we needed. Then we discovered the programme Licence to Work.
It’s amazing to see young people at the start of the year lacking in confidence and direction then coming out at the other end standing tall and proud.
Some days it’s hard and you gain a few grey hairs, but really it’s simple. The biggest compliment we have been paid is when we asked a group of young people what it was about this programme that brought about the change in them, they said: “you believe in us Miss”. The difference you can make in young person’s life is massive. That’s what they need, someone to believe in them and guide them. Someone they can trust and who shows them respect. Another young man told us this programme gave him a reason to get out of bed in the morning. What more can you ask.
We very much believe in empowering young people – we encourage them to aim high. We are about removing the barriers for them. The biggest barriers are usually lack of confidence, lack of know-how and lack of a network. They just don’t know what the workforce expects of them, they don’t know about what opportunities and options are out there or how to get there. They just need their tool belt filled with the tools they require to succeed in the workplace.
We don’t want our young people to just have any job, but a job they will feel fulfilled in and that becomes a career. We want them to get jobs, keep jobs and create careers.