Green Jobs for Growth

Published: 9 November 2012

With increasing numbers of young people Not in Education, Employment or Training (NEET), it is more vital than ever that the UK economy takes advantage of work opportunities in all sectors of employment.  This includes previously overlooked areas of our economy, such as horticulture and so called “green jobs”.

To support this, in May of this year we launched our Growing Localities programme. This included £1million towards Horticultural Work Training, offering specialist support to NEETs and others disadvantaged in the labour market, such as disabled people and ex-offenders. The aim was to create opportunities through work training, apprenticeships and additional support.

We have now awarded eleven grants on this programme to organisations across London. These include £91,000 to St Mary’s Secret Garden in Hackney to deliver horticultural training to 48 young people with learning disabilities or experience of mental ill health; £99,430 to St Mungo’s Community Housing to develop the Putting Down Roots training programme to benefit 40 homeless people; and £100,000 to Trees for Cities to provide work-based Level 1 horticultural training for 120 long-term unemployed and socially excluded young adults. A full list of grantees can be found here. In total, around 700 people are expected to be provided with work and training opportunities as a result of these eleven awards.

This programme will also build on several other employment initiatives we are supporting, such The Evening Standard’s Ladder for London campaign, which we are supporting creation of 10 new Apprenticeships to be based within the City of London Corporation; and The Youth Offer which will provide grants of up to £100,000 to each Local Authority in Greater London working with Voluntary Sector partners to support young people into employment.

Please contact the Trust for more information on any of these initiatives.