Care leaver discovers rewarding new career helping other young people

Emmanuel Boamah has succeeded in overcoming his own challenges in life to land a rewarding career working with young people in Walsall.

Emmanuel, aged 19, spent three years in the care system and is now working as a Youth Participation Apprentice for Walsall Council.

The opportunity has come as part of a £5m Youth Guarantee Trailblazer region-wide scheme led by the West Midlands mayor, Richard Parker, to support more young people into jobs.

The scheme will help hundreds of young people, like Emmanuel, aged between 18-21 and who are not in education, employment or training (NEET), by giving them paid work opportunities to develop skills for life.

Emmanuel’s apprenticeship involves him working closely with young people at Walsall Council’s newly established youth hub provision in the town centre, Our Place.

He is supported and coached by trained youth workers to develop his skills, while he helps other young people tackle challenges in their own lives.

Emmanuel, from Bloxwich in Walsall, went into care aged 15 and says he was never sure what he wanted to do in life.

“Being in care doesn’t offer much stability so I wanted to create my own,” he said.

“The structure of learning in school wasn’t quite right for me and alongside working through some mental health challenges I didn’t know what I should do when I left.

“Being an apprentice offers me the stability I need. It builds on the strengths I have and gives me the opportunity to help others that might be in a similar position to what I was in.

“I know now what career direction I want to go in. I’m excited and looking forward to supporting others to overcome the challenges they face and get into their dream career.

“My advice to other young people is it’s not about the things that go wrong in your life – it’s about what you do afterwards. And never waste a conversation, make links – you never know what opportunity might come up.”

Mr Parker, met Emmanuel at the launch of the youth trailblazer scheme at Our Place.

The mayor said: “I want every young person to have the chance to reach their potential and enjoy a fulfilling and rewarding career – that’s at the heart of my ‘Jobs for Everyone’ mission.

“Walsall is leading the way with this trailblazer programme. It’s by connecting young people like Emmanuel to local jobs and training opportunities in this way that we can change lives for the better.” 

The West Midlands is one of eight national trailblazer areas, and the mayor officially launched the scheme at Our Place, where Emmanuel is based.

Supported by the WMCA, Walsall Council is working with local organisations to provide opportunities for young people to engage and access employment opportunities across sectors including creative media, construction, digital, and coaching and mentoring.

Youth unemployment is double the national average in some areas of the West Midlands including Walsall, Wolverhampton, and Birmingham, with around 29,000 young people classed as unemployed across the region.

To help tackle the issue, the mayor recently launched his West Midlands Works Plan, which sets out a vision to create 93,000 good quality job opportunities for people over the next ten years.

West Midlands Works is the mayor’s response to the government’s Get Britain Working initiative, to support people with health conditions and barriers who want to work, into good jobs and fulfilling careers.

Over the next three years the mayor has also vowed to deliver a guarantee for all young people across the region to be able to access training, education, careers guidance and other forms of support so they can take their first step towards work.

This includes work readiness programmes and work preparation lessons at school.

Pictured: Emmanuel with mayor Richard Parker