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Weaver Vale MP Champions Branson Youth Employment Initiative |
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Weaver Vale MP Champions Branson Youth Employment Initiative
With the latest unemployment figures showing nearly one in four young people out of work, Graham Evans MP is backing a campaign for greater support for the area’s budding entrepreneurs.
Sir Richard Branson and Virgin Media chief executive Neil Berkett have personally written to Graham Evans MP on behalf of Virgin Media Pioneers, an online community of young entrepreneurs founded by Virgin Media. They, along with three Pioneer representatives who have also signed the letter, are recommending the Student Loans Fund is changed to a Youth Investment Fund where loans at favourable rates are available as start-up capital for young entrepreneurs, not just as loans to prospective students.
In response, Graham Evans MP has pledged support for the initiative: “Getting young people into work is extremely challenging at the moment so I want to explore every positive avenue that could help tackle youth unemployment. Setting up your own business is a daunting prospect for anyone but I firmly believe the creativity and the ideas are out there. Virgin Media Pioneers' campaign for a Youth Investment Fund is the result of young entrepreneurs themselves keen not to be forgotten and asking for support. I am delighted to back the campaign and will take it to Government to see if the proposal can be turned into action.”
The recommendation for the Youth Investment Fund came from Virgin Media Pioneers in a report entitled Control Shift: The rise of the young entrepreneur.
Neil Berkett, chief executive of Virgin Media commented: “The UK is full of talented and enterprising young people and we want to challenge the convention that a young person can access a loan to study a degree in Business Studies, but not one on equal terms to start a business. I’m delighted by Graham’s support and hope a Youth Investment Fund can make a difference for those trying to take control of their own lives in order to build a positive future.”
Sir Richard Branson, founder of the Virgin Group, said: “While global economic gloom has closed the door to many young people who might have entered into traditional professions, thousands of them are looking upon this as an opportunity. They’re seizing the chance to make a job rather than take a job. Positive, enthusiastic and excited by their prospects, these are young people that have the potential to change our country for the better.”
The Government is now considering the proposal.
Prime Minster David Cameron has responded positively, saying: “There’s a very good idea in there which is that, okay, we are providing loans for students to go to university – why not look at something similar for people who have got a great business idea and want to get on and start that business? I think this is a brilliant idea and we are looking very closely at it.”
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