Local charity, the Community Foundation for Merseyside, has stepped up its bid in tackling unemployment and worklessness in young people by offering an internship opportunity within the charity. Since November 2008, the Community Foundation has distributed close to £1 million pounds into Merseyside’s communities in a bid to target worklessness and progress individuals towards employment via its Employable Communities Fund (ECF).

The internship is a new opportunity within the Community Foundation with support from the Rank Foundation, via their Time to Shine Programme. The Time to Shine Programme enables young people with skills, talent and ambition to volunteer full-time for 12 months in a local charitable organisation whilst having full expenses covered while they are working at the charity, to include accommodation, travel, food and a weekly allowance.

Unemployment levels on Merseyside are amongst the highest in the UK. According to the Office for National Statistics, the national average number of people accessing Job Seekers Allowance who are able to work is 4.1%. In Merseyside this is at a higher rate of 6.3% with 13,705 of those claiming being young people aged 18-24.

Cathy Elliott, Chief Executive at the Community Foundation for Merseyside commented; “The Community Foundation looks to address social issues within our local communities, and unemployment is one of our current priorities. We applied for funding from the Rank Foundation in order to not only compliment the current work we are doing around worklessness and unemployment, but in order to give a young person the opportunity to increase their skill-set and their employability.”

The Community Foundation is excited to be able to offer this full-time internship in which the individual will receive a Rank Foundation Certificate of Achievement on completion of the placement and a potential financial reward. The role will look at supporting both the development and grants departments within the Community Foundation while providing training and the ability for the intern to develop their skills. The deadline for applications is Friday 27th November, with the position commencing in January 2010. To find out more information, or to request an application pack, please contact the Community Foundation on 0151 966 3542 or email niki.oleary@cfmerseyside.org.uk.