London is home to some of the biggest businesses and organisations in the country and yet young people that grow up in the city are often far disconnected from job opportunities. A new campaign from London Youth aims to tackle this issue and make the London job market more accessible to young people.

The campaign, ‘Ambitious Applications’ has been created by RAPP UK and Fleishman Hillard for Youth London to highlight the skills and ambitions of young Londoners set to be the next generation of young leaders. The campaign amplified an issue that London Youth are facing in that while London is often seen as a city filled with opportunity, its youth clubs which are vital spaces where young people are able to develop transferable skills, are being left without funding leading to shut downs. The closure of these spaces is cutting off pathways for London’s youth, creating a disconnect with businesses and resulting in a loss of opportunities.  

The campaign resulted in direct response letters being sent to jobs ads at major London employers such as The F.A., Boeing, Dorchester Group and Bloom and Wild, alerting them to the potential closure of youth clubs. By targeting those people in a position to help directly and raising awareness of the issues young people face in the job market, the letters have helped to open up conversations between London Youth and potential fundraising and corporate partners. 

The unique business-to-business style approach to fundraising means the campaign has been able to mend broken connections and increase opportunities in the job market whilst raising funds. 

“We feel this campaign achieves two things, on the one hand it directly targets corporates and asks them to help in a way we would never have thought possible. And on the other we have managed to get a public call out to London, helping us raise awareness of the problem.” says CEO of London Youth, Rosemary Watt-Wyness. 

She continues: We know that failure to invest early enough in addressing these gaps reaps costly consequences in the longer term. Youth clubs are the place young people CHOOSE to go, thus presenting a huge opportunity to reach them with support, opportunities, and consistent and trusted adult relationships which London Youth knows can change lives.”

As part of the campaign, RAPP UK has commissioned a street art installation in the heart of Shoreditch, highlighting the issues facing London’s next generation of employees. The mural has been painted by artists in collaboration with Global Street Art and acts as an open letter to London on behalf of its young people who will struggle to find employment. The activation will also include the shopfront takeover across all KFH branches in London and major construction hoarding sites across London.