Merseyside mental health charity, Be Free Campaign, has launched a national campaign to change the negative language surrounding youth unemployment as it continues to hit the headlines.
In recent days the UK media has been awash with stories on the landmark report by former labour cabinet minister Alan Milburn that warns Britain’s economy is losing billions of pounds a year amid the growing risk of ‘a lost generation’.
The report states that Britain risks a financial hit worth £125bn a year due to a deepening crisis in youth unemployment with the number of young people aged 16-24 years old not in employment, education, or training (NEET) now over one million for the first time in 12 years.
Be Free Campaign, a youth-led mental health charity that supports thousands of young people in Merseyside, is rising above the noise and calling for a change in how young people are referred to in a bid to tackle harmful stereotypes.
The charity is on a mission to shift the narrative by changing NEET (not in employment, education, or training) to LEET (looking for employment, education, or training) campaign.
Becca Tomlinson, Partnerships and Engagement Officer at Be Free Campaign, says: “NEET to LEET is part of the Youth Trailblazer programme we’ve developed with Liverpool City Council where we’re supporting young people who are currently looking for education employment or training.
“We’re encouraging professionals to make language changes and go from defining young people as NEETs with negative stereotypes of not to LEETs looking.”
Taking a lead on the campaign, however, is the charity’s Youth Development Officer Rushid Afzali. Having joined the charity as part of their Youth Trailblazer programme, he now has a full-time role at Be Free. His own experiences of leaving education and joining the workforce highlighted the stigma faced by young people seeking work. Having witnessed first-hand how damaging labels such as ‘absent and disengaged’ can be, Rushid is passionately advocating for change.
Be Free’s latest campaign aims to promote asset-based language, that defines people by their capabilities and potential, as opposed to using labels like NEET which the charity sees as a form of deficit framing that characterises marginalised individuals or groups by their perceived weaknesses, problems, or failures.
The charity hopes to achieve its goal this with three pivotal stages, policy change (push government, councils and public bodies to adopt LEET in official reporting and policy language), language adoption (move charities, media and educators away from deficit framing toward asset-based language), and a sector-wide shift (realign services around capability, recognising young people as active agents, not categories).
Dr Shantanu Kundu, Founder and CEO of Be Free Campaign, says: “NEET to LEET will help us move away from being problem-based, to seeing what young people are, full of potential.”
At the forefront of their mission, Be Free Campaign ensures to keep young people’s experiences and opinions as the driving force behind their work. The charity’s Youth Board have direct impact on the governance of the charity and campaigns.
Becca says, “With any of our work or campaigning, we make sure that we’re not just doing it to young people, but we’re doing it with them and for them – it’s reflected in our entire team and structure.”
As part of the NEET to LEET movement, the charity is also spending time going to local schools and youth centres to bring young people and employers together for insightful and discussions.
The charity heavily relies on fundraising to run campaigns and ensure their services are available to all young people in the Merseyside region.
To rally more supporters and raise vital funds, Be Free Campaign has signed up as a cause on easyfundraising, which allows people to raise money for the charity every time they shop online.
When the charity’s supporters sign up to easyfundraising and choose Be Free Campaign as the cause they want to raise for, the retailers they shop with via the easyfundraising website or app will automatically donate a percentage of their purchase to the charity without adding any extra expense to their bill.
The charity recently received a £500 grant from easyfundraising’s Impact Fund, which will go towards the NEET to LEET movement and early intervention and prevention mental health sessions for young people.
To support Be Free Campaign with every shop, sign up here. Learn more about NEET to LEET here.