Motocross Challenge Project (MXCP)
Employment course for NEETs in Dover
Employment skills and training course for young people not in education or training
About the project
The objective of MXCP is to offer pathways to education and employment opportunities to young people in Kent who are not in mainstream education. By providing recreational and educational facilities they educate, motivate and enthuse young people towards success in a range of courses that teach practical, social and functional life skills. The skills and experience they gain from MXCP gives them the opportunity to go on to further education or seek employment.
The participants of the course are generally out of mainstream education and come from different areas such as the care system, judicial system and deprived areas. These young people have very little or no qualifications and very little employment opportunities in area that has high unemployment. Dover has the fifth highest NEET statistics in the county. These young people often have behavioural, social and mulit-complex needs that are not being met or have excluded them from services that they require.
Results from the funding
The grant was used to invest in an Independent Living/Employment course for young people. The course gave the attendees crucial skills needed for employment along with additional accredited training courses such as ASDAN, CSCS, First Aid, Food and hygiene. The young people on the course were aged 16+ and were not in the educational system or on any training for work. Most of them left education without any qualifications and were not accepted on courses due to previous behaviour so they became disengaged or disruptive to their local communities.
The grant gave opportunity and faith to disillusioned young people who felt on the periphery of society. The chance to try again, learn new skills, revive the enthusiasm for life. They were given choices for their future, empowering them to engage back into mainstream life and apply for work or volunteering. It helped them get out and change their routine, making a difference to their mental health and socialising in the wider community
Beneficiary story
One attendee hadn't been in education for a year. He was kicked out of college, disengaged, demotivated and isolated from former friends who had either gone to college or got jobs. He had been applying for jobs for a year but was hearing nothing back. In coming to the project it gave him a purpose for getting up, a chance to meet other peers, try new activities and refresh his functional skills. The Independent Living/Employment course allowed him to try tasters in different areas and he found that he enjoyed working with his hands and being outdoors. In gaining self-confidence, new skills and support from staff he was motivated to apply for jobs. He got a job in the kitchen of a restaurant and is proud to be earning money and confident to apply again to college as he has found an interested in becoming a carpenter. Being with others in a training setting, working with peers and having staff believing in him, he started to believe again in himself.
