An upskilling project in east Belfast is helping young people off benefits and into self-employment.
The Megabytes project is funded by the Department for Employment and Learning under the European Social Fund and aims to help 16 to 24-year-old unemployed people, with no formal qualifications or work experience, to consider working for themselves.
Jonathan McAlpin, chief executive of East Belfast Enterprise which delivers the project said: “Creating jobs and helping to develop new routes to employment is one of our key priorities at East Belfast Enterprise.
“Over the last year, the Megabytes programme has successfully shown that targeted training provision, which helps young people to look beyond the job ads and at other opportunities, can help them to take control and work their way out of unemployment.”
Endorsing the centre’s work Employment and Learning Minister, Dr Stephen Farry, recently attended an event to celebrate the success of the project. He said: “The Megabytes project inspires young people to explore the option of self-employment and gain skills in enterprise and new media. It also supports young people to launch businesses online or use online tools. “Employment and employability are among the top priorities for my Department.
I recently secured £25million to fund a comprehensive range of new initiatives to support the implementation of the Pathways to Success Strategy to help young people not in education, employment or training (NEET). “Of particular relevance here today is the Pathways for Young People – Education Maintenance Allowance. This allowance is designed to provide a
financial incentive for young people aged 16 and 17 on entry, but up to 24 in some cases to participate in ESF projects, such as Megabytes and I would encourage participants to avail of this.” All Megabytes participants receive a recognised qualification, Qualifications and Credit Framework (QCF) Level 2 in Understanding Business Enterprise on completion of the course.