Young Women Branching Out

Our latest course, Branching Out, will help unwaged young women to explore skills and training options available to them. The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted young women particularly hard, resulting in reduced employment and future job opportunities.

Young Women Hit Hardest in COVID-19 Pandemic

Young Women’s Trust and Women’s Budget Group published a policy briefing in November 2020. They talked about how, even prior the Coronavirus pandemic, young women faced employment disadvantages, discrimination and sexual harassment. The pandemic dented young women’s employment the hardest, with a third of all young women holding employment in sectors like hospitality, leisure and tourism. Such sectors have effectively been shut down in the wake of COVID-19.

This has led to an ongoing mental health crisis, financial hardship and a bleak outlook for the recovery of vulnerable groups in society like young women. In October 2020, an estimated 1.5 million young women suffered a reduction on income since the the pandemic began. Because of this, approximately 750,000 young women having been made to go to work, despite concerns about health and safety.

Branching Out

Starting on May 6 2021, The Growing Club CIC is running an 18-hour, fully-funded course for unwaged young women aged 19-24. Branching Out is a course funded by the Frances C Scott Charitable Trust. The course will run in Lancaster and will help young women to: build on their skills, explore opportunities available to them, develop confidence and communication skills, employment and self-employment skills, network building, how to prepare a CV and develop job application and interview skills.

Attendees will be allocated a mentor to help them for 12 months, to stay supported and on-track.

Our director, Jane Binnion, said: 

“The pandemic has led us to move work with young women higher up our list of priorities, as they have been so severely impacted – emotionally and financially – with many seeing their future as quite bleak. I have a young daughter myself and have witnessed first-hand the struggles to find work, pay rent and stay buoyant. We are so pleased to have received this funding which enables us to support local young women.”

To book a place on Branching Out, visit Eventbrite or for more details, please contact jane@thegrowingclub.co.uk