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A consortium including 44 housing associations will create more than 800 new job placements for unemployed young people through the government’s Kickstart Scheme.
Clarion Housing Group, the largest housing association in the UK, will lead the consortium, having secured £6m in funding through the programme, which was unveiled last summer as part of ministers’ post-pandemic recovery plan.
The Kickstart Housing Network, which currently involves 59 member organisations in total, will provide placements for 16 to 24-year-olds across England and Wales claiming Universal Credit.
The scheme will see the government pay 100% of the national minimum wage to those hired for a six-month work placement.
Clarion will be directly employing 301 young people through the initiative, providing training through its charitable foundation, Clarion Futures.
It will assign a mentor to every young person given a placement through the scheme.
Placements will include roles in IT, customer service, marketing, development and housing, Clarion said.
The 125,000-home landlord plans to make further bids for Kickstart funding as part of the consortium, with a target to deliver more than 1,000 placements by the end of the programme.
Clare Miller, chief executive of Clarion, said: “Clarion has a proud record of supporting people into work and I am delighted we will be giving opportunities to hundreds of young people to start their careers in housing.
“The Kickstart Scheme is a very welcome initiative, helping young people to access opportunities and fulfil their potential.
“It is a great example of government and the housing sector working together to meet the challenges we all face as we recover from the pandemic.”
Members of the Kickstart Housing Network are:
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