In November, WeGovNow has teamed up with Southwark’s Youth Council offering a stand at their Level Up youth employment event. The event was the culmination of months of hard work from the Youth Council team, all under 20, who recognise the challenges that young people in the borough face in finding training and career opportunities. Hosted at the world-renowned Ministry of Sound nightclub in Southwark, the event was an opportunity for almost 150 young people to meet employers, network and hear from inspirational young achievers.

There was particular enthusiasm at the WeGovNow stand, where Southwark staff and colleagues from Mapping For Change were busy helping people register on the platform and add their career aspirations on a themed local map. The map enables young people to identify the kinds of opportunities they are looking for, and matches them with local employers and training organisations who have posted opportunities for internships, work experience, apprenticeships and jobs. Following this, the WeGovNow platform is used to enable young job seekers in Southwark to access crowd-sourced information on career and training pathway opportunities in their local community while being able to directly engage with the employers or service providers.

Further highlights of the evening included a spectacular fashion show put on by young designers, motivational and inspirational speeches, welcome from the Mayor of Southwark, confidence-building workshops and a panel discussion with young entrepreneurs and artists, led by a Youth Council member.

The event was a tremendous success, the young people going away loaded with new ideas and aspirations. In this sense, the WeGovNow platform, used as an online career and employability hub, opens up new possibilities for young job seekers in Southwark in a format they understand and appreciate.