The second episode in this Yorkshire Calendar series presented by Marylyn Webb and Richard Madeley that this week looks at the growing problems of youth unemployment. With more and more school leavers not being able to find a job, what is available for them to help get them into a work and prepare them for a growing competitive jobs market. Title: Yorkshire Television Colour Production Calendar At Your Service Circled in red ink a personal advertisement in the Yorkshire Evening Post. In...

The second episode in this Yorkshire Calendar series presented by Marylyn Webb and Richard Madeley that this week looks at the growing problems of youth unemployment. With more and more school leavers not being able to find a job, what is available for them to help get them into a work and prepare them for a growing competitive jobs market. Title: Yorkshire Television Colour Production Calendar At Your Service Circled in red ink a personal advertisement in the Yorkshire Evening Post. In voiceover the writer of said advert, 16-year-old Paula Harrison from Pudsey, reads out the advertisement about looking for work. Title: From School to Scrapheap Credit: with Marylyn Webb and Richard Madeley Sitting behind a news desk presenter Marylyn Webb explains that on most evening similar advertisements are appearing in local newspapers appealing for help written by some of the 30,000 recent school leavers in the region. Following a brief introduction an interview conducted by Richard Madeley with Paula Harrison in her home. Since leaving school four months ago she has applied for 50 jobs, been interviewed seven times but so far hasn’t found a job. She talks about her feelings of depression seeing friends who have found work and how she fills her day. She explains that if she had known it would be this hard, she would have stayed on a school or gone to college. Back in the studio Marylyn explains that in the worst hit areas 1 in four school leavers are still out of work, so what has been done to help Paula? An interview with Les Smart the Principal Careers Officer for Barnsley who provides details on what the Careers Service can do to help Paula and those like her either to find work or potentially a suitable training opportunity He also states that currently it is a ‘buyers’ market’ meaning that there are currently lots of school leavers with good qualifications but there are less jobs about. Returning to Richard he talks about the Youth Opportunities Programme (YOP) which is a government scheme to provide a period of paid employment for all school leavers that is split into two parts; Work Experience and Work Preparations. Following Richard providing more details about elements within Work Preparations, Marylyn provides details on the elements within Work Experience. At a YOP ‘Work Experience’ workshop at the Aldham Workshops in Barnsley Richard speaks with two boys and two girls taking part in the scheme about their experience. 16-year-olds John Taylor talks about being unemployed and the number of unsuccessful jobs he applied for and how this course will hopefully give him the experience he needs to finally find a job. 16-year-old Paula Heath talks about how the experience here is different from being in school making her feel as if she in in a real job. 16-year-old Debbie Chipchase talks about how the staff on the scheme treat her like an adult while 17-year-old Mark Trimmell explains that because of the experiences gained on this course he has now found paid employment. Back in the studio Richard speaks with Harry Aspinall who oversees the YOP scheme and is hopefully that all school leavers who want one will find places on the scheme as per the government’s intentions. He talks about the benefits of being on the course in helping young people transition from school to work and gives those with no qualifications a chance to do training and gain further education as it is a viable alternative to unemployment. Sitting next to Harry is unemployed teenager Andrew Burton who has been out of work for three-and-a-half years and been on two YOP scheme. He is asked by Richard if the courses were worthwhile and why he still hasn’t found a job. Following an introduction from Marylyn who expresses the governments fears that bored young people will drift into long-term unemployment and potentially crime, Richard visits an Unemployment Centre in Barnsley. As the teenagers, many of whom have been on several YOP schemes, sit around chatting or playing table tennis Richard provides details on what the centre offers with regards both facilities and training courses that are designed helps build up their confidence again. Six teenagers at the centre take part in a roleplay in which five are an interview panel and the sixth the interviewee. Richard speaks with two boys and two girls about the challenges they’ve faced finding work and why none of them have had successful job interviews. One boy talks about being a member of a punk band which he sees as an outlet for his aggression. Returning to the studio Richard speaks with Dr George Tolley Principle of Sheffield City Polytechnic who talks about the work he has done both in Northern Ireland and Sheffield to encourage young people, especially those less able youngers, back into education and away from potentially turning to violence. He provides details on the courses that are available but states that young people will need to work hard in order to get a place due to the continued deterioration in the job market. Across the studio Marylyn speaks with Michael Thickett who is the Personnel Director at Bradford engineering company Hepworth and Grandage. He is asked why with the recent redundancy of 150 workers did he feel it was important to take on the usual number of school leavers as apprentices? He talks about the company’s need for technological skills for future which come from these apprentices. He also talks about the apprentice selection processes and what a young person can do to improve their chances; the importance of first impressions is emphasised. Following Richard providing viewers with names and addresses of organisation that can help school leavers, Marylyn provide details on next week’s programme which look at the concerns of mothers across the region and where they can turn for help. Title: Calendar At Your Service Credit: was presented by Marylyn Webb, Richard Madeley Production Team Petrina Rance, Nick Lord Film Editor Gordon Hopps Director Tony Scull Producer David Lowen Editor Graham Ironside End title: Yorkshire Television Colour Production. © Trident Television Ltd. MCMLXXX