Brighton and Hove Youth Employability Service held a Youth Opportunity Fair in Hove Town Hall today to encourage young people into work or education.

Colleges, businesses and training scheme providers attended the fair aimed at raising awareness of training and employment opportunities for people between 16 and 18 who are not in employment or education in Brighton and Hove.

Dean Coussens, Employability Advisor for the Youth Employability Service said: “For young people sitting at home applying for jobs and getting nowhere it can be very demotivating. This is a chance to see what’s on offer and give young people a bit of hope.”

Young people could browse the stalls to see what was on offer, take part in interactive taster activities such as brick laying and hair styling, and sign up for courses, with some starting as soon as Monday.

Varndean College’s stall was run by 16 to 18 year olds already taking part in the Young Enterprise Scheme, which allows young people to set up their own business as a step towards applying for college courses.

They were keen to encourage others to join them.

Sayed El-Nily, 16, one of the students on the scheme said: “You get to let out your creative side and work as a team. It gives you the confidence to find out what you want to do.”

It was also an opportunity for employers and training providers to network with each other and find out how they could work together to get more young people into education or work.

Karen Lentz, Employment Support Officer for JHP Training, one of the stall holders, said: “There has been a massive increase in the number of young people looking to go into training recently, and there aren’t enough training places in Brighton.”

This event was the first of its kind in Hove, and many stallholders agreed that it had been successful, with significant numbers of young people coming through and expressing an interest in the opportunities available.

Andrew Morse from Sussex Downs College said: “This sort of thing works best if it happens often, and hopefully there will be similar events in the future.”