Ms Holly Clyde:

I am truly delighted to be here today. I am a youth apprentice at the NIYF. Today, I will talk about the importance of apprentice roles and their impact on young people. An apprenticeship is a paid job that offers a hands-on leaning experience with professional help and mentoring. Last May, I started as a youth apprentice at the NIYF along with two other apprentices. My role consists of shadowing qualified youth workers, helping to deliver group work and getting to know basic housekeeping such as checking emails and other aspects of being an employee before going out and working full-time. Experiential learning is a massive part of my job along with constant reflective practice, which is definitely drilled into me in my community youth work degree.

I decided to apply for the post because I had thought for a while that I should move jobs in order to gain more experience for university. Previously, I worked in a youth club in my local area as the youth support worker in charge but I felt that I was not ready for full-time employment and was unsure of where to go or what to do. Luckily, a family member sent me the job application the day before the deadline.

At that point I did not know what being an apprentice meant but I thought I should just go for it. What was the worst that could happen? I quickly settled into the Northern Ireland Youth Forum due to how welcoming the staff are and the atmosphere in the building. The forum has supported me in ways I have never been supported before. We are forever doing check-ins to see how everyone is and what is going on. It helps track our journey and we can reflect on it. In the youth forum I work on the housing and homeless team, which is close to my heart. I, along with another apprentice, go out to shared accommodation across Northern Ireland to deliver group work and build relationships with young people who have been through similar experiences to us. We are intervention workers while the third year apprentice is a prevention worker who goes out into schools to do workshops on how to prevent homelessness and make young people aware of their rights.

Apprenticeships provide opportunities for young people aged between 16 and 21 years and in some cases those aged up to 25 years. This includes my workplace. Not only do they build pathways of opportunity for young people but they also combine academic and technical instruction with paid work. It gives young people a chance to experience working life while being provided with a wage and valuable skills, including effective communication, active listening skills and organisational skills. As an apprentice, you receive mentoring by professionals. This gives young people an idea of what a career as a youth worker is like and helps to find your specific interests. They also provide young people with an incentive to work hard and develop new skills and qualities that lead to well-paying careers.

For young people, apprenticeships can be motivating, practical and affordable. They are motivating and practical because young people enjoy learning by doing and they are affordable because you can earn as you study and learn - that was not actually meant to rhyme. Rather than other young people diving straight into full-time employment after education with no training or mentoring, apprenticeships enable mentors to provide support and allow young people to overcome challenges. Mentors play a positive role in the development of young people and helping them to get to know themselves more through personal and social growth. The mentors give out constructive advice that helps to develop confidence and independence when moving forward in the workplace. Apprenticeships are also cost-effective and bring positivity into the workplace. There is funding from the government to help towards paying apprentices, and more businesses need to be made aware of the advantages employing apprentices bring. Some of these advantages include that young people embarking on apprenticeships are willing and eager to learn and contribute new ideas for the company. Their positive and fresh approach will have a domino effect on other staff members, which can help revitalise an organisation. According to a recent government study in the UK that was carried out by YouGov, 78% of employers said apprentices helped them improve productivity. Registered apprentice roles last around four to six years and youth apprentice roles last one to three years.

I will share a few quotes from my fellow apprentices Demi and Shannon, who are not here with us today. I asked them both them same questions, namely, what is important about having youth apprentices and what is the importance of having youth apprentices for young people. For the first and second question, Demi said that as a youth apprentice she finds it important to use her life experiences to help other young people realise their full potential and break generational and societal expectations put upon them. She said representation is important, including having young people see other young people who have experienced similar challenges and overcoming them to be in a position of influence and empowerment. Shannon said it gives someone with lived experiences a chance to use them in a more positive light and it shows they are not alone and can make it. My ask to decision-makers in the room is to create more awareness of youth apprentice roles and make them more available and accessible to young people to provide the opportunity of earning a wage through experiential learning. I thank the committee for its time.