The historic twin Grands Départs of the Tour de France and Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift from Britain in 2027 will showcase how mega sporting events can create significant opportunities for young people to gain real life work experience through a Readiness to Work programme.
The launch of Grand Départ GB's Readiness to Work programme, delivered by British Cycling, will allow 18- to 25-year-olds to gain real life work experience through volunteering at the Grands Départs, coming at a time when recent government commissioned reports have stated that one million young people are not in education, employment or training, and among 24-year-olds, 45% have never had a job, yet 80% want to work.
This workforce and skills development programme combined with real life major event experience at the Grands Départs, including but not limited to employability and readiness training designed to help build the skills, confidence and knowledge needed to move into employment, and training focussed on turning the volunteering experience into transferrable skills to use within future jobs and job applications.
The Readiness to Work programme will see 300 young people, who apply to be JOY Maker volunteers, trained in employability skills including application readiness (CV and interviews), resilience, financial education and personal brand, as well as receiving three months of mentoring with a professional in sectors such as sport and performance, event management, professional services, and marketing and communications.
Commenting on the Readiness to Work programme, Jon Dutton OBE, Chief Executive of British Cycling, said; "We know there are more than one million 16- to 24-year-olds not in employment, education or training, and for many of those, 84%, want to change that. We want to address some of the employability challenges.
"This offers an opportunity for young people to come and enjoy a mega sporting event, but also to build confidence, resilience and to get skills that will benefit getting them into employment."
To find out more about the Readiness to Work programme, visit the website at letourgb.com/readiness-to-work
The programme is a part of British Cycling's JOY social impact programme for Grand Départ GB, that will create positive social change both on and off the bike through six programmes: girl's participation; soft power, trade & diplomacy; arts & culture; digital schools; a community engagement toolkit; and the Readiness to Work employability programme.
Fancy being a part of the historic 2027 Grands Départs? Anyone aged 16+ can sign up now to be a JOY Maker volunteer at letourgb.com/volunteer
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