“Fantastic evening hearing from young people, apprentices and charities – stories of lives being transformed by excellent youth work” was just one of the quotes we received after our AGM. If you didn’t come along, this is what you missed:

The theme of Young Solutions 2016 Annual General Meeting ‘ Destination: Future’ was young people and the world of work. Dr Simon Murphy, board member of the Worcestershire Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP), kindly replaced the advertised keynote speaker at the last minute and talked about how the LEP regarded work with young people with a high level of importance. The LEP are currently supporting a number of strategies including links with schools, involvement in the Charter for Inclusive Growth as well as having a continuing commitment to the expansion of apprenticeship opportunities. Dr Murphy said there were already 10,000 young people involved in apprenticeships in Worcestershire and Worcester Bosch, who were hosting the event, were a prime example of companies offering high quality apprenticeships. He commended the two young people comparing the AGM – Perry Artus and Joe Preston – as exemplifying the type of young people who were benefiting from apprenticeship opportunities at Bosch.

The AGM also heard from Mike Knowles who is a key worker with Talent Match and additionally works with YMCA, one of Young Solutions’ member organisations. Young Solutions has been involved with Talent Match since its inception and Talent Match is now working with more than 100 18 – 24 year olds helping them into employment and training. Mike introduced a young man called Dan Owen who was involved in Talent Match and is also an active member of Worcestershire Youth Cabinet and had been an ambassador with the National Citizenship Service. Dan spoke about his own experiences, about some of the issues he has had to face including homelessness and how the support from the YMCA and Talent Match have helped him in his approach to looking for work. He said he currently volunteers in the community and believes his passion for this work would ensure he gained a job.

There was also a presentation by another member, Neil Hornby, who leads Bridge Employment and Training, near Malvern. He described some of the challenges faced by the young people with whom his project works including addiction, homelessness and asylum seeking issues. He explained the ways his project had worked with young people and was delighted to say that many of the graduates of his project were now in further and higher education, apprenticeships or employment. The organisation have expanded their premises in Hanley Swan which means they can now provide a wider range of vocational options including horticulture, construction and vehicle maintenance.

The formal business of the AGM saw the re-election of Michael Hunter to the board along with Phil Ashwell and Victoria Cooper. During the AGM Michael Hunter paid tribute to Phil Weston who was retiring from Young Solutions’ board. Phil, who founded and heads up Perdiswell Young People’s Leisure Club, has been a stalwart of Young Solutions, having been a board member from its founding in 1998 and having acted as its treasurer for most of that time. Michael wanted to record his thanks for all Phil’s work and expressed his appreciation for his wise counsel and generous contributions.

A new feature of this year’s AGM was the introduction of a member’s market place which ran immediately before the AGM. Around 10 member organisations provided ‘stalls’ to promote and publicise their work and this proved of benefit to members and guests alike. The Puxtons from Simply Limitless in Kidderminster provided great music to accompany the refreshments and set the scene for our “fantastic” and “inspiring” evening.