Grant won for online careers guru

23 March 2007

The grant – to find a careers guru for the popular question and answer service – has been awarded by Thales UK Charitable Trust. The careers support will be a new facility that builds on the many thousands of hits the service gets about emotional and other issues.

Whatever the career-based issue or concern, young people will be able to submit a question to www.thesite.org/askthesite and within three days, get a response that provides support, options and signposting from a relevant careers specialist. The careers guru will work alongside other support groups such as Brook, Citizens Advice Bureau, Samaritans, SANE, bss, Shelter and Addaction to respond to an ever increasing number of questions about a range of issues of concern to young people.

Sir Michael Graydon, Chairman, Thales UK Charitable Trust, says: "Thales UK employs over 9,000 employees based in 60 locations throughout all regions, with a high proportion of staff being involved in science, technology and engineering.

"As a company, therefore, the themes of youth, technology and education are key for us and Youthnet is an excellent fit with this. We are delighted to be supporting their work
to build on a service that will give young people careers advice to help them with their futures."

Once appointed, the new guru will provide young people with answers to questions about careers and study, including all aspects of learning, career development, jobs and volunteering.

Dominic Waghorn, Digital Interactive Services Director at YouthNet says:"We're very excited that this new injection of funding will enable us to offer young people this new resource. By providing a place on askTheSite for young people to ask career-related questions and seek advice, we can really help them to fulfil their potential."

Prospective partners are encouraged to contact Claire Easterman, New Projects Development Manager on 020 7226 8008 for more details.

Ends

For further information, please contact Lucja Wisniewska on 020 7288 7309 or 07930 929492 or email lucja.wisniewska@youthnet.org (numbers not for publication)

Notes to editors

1. YouthNet is an online charity – founded by broadcaster Martyn Lewis in 1995 – which exists to create a socially inclusive environment where all young adults are engaged, informed and inspired to achieve their ambitions and dreams. We actively listen to young people, empower them to speak out and work with them to take action on the issues that they say affect them. We aim to inspire young people, earn their trust and respect and support them with empathy as they seek out their place in the world.

2. YouthNet achieves its vision through two websites: www.do-it.org.uk – volunteering is made easy; and www.TheSite.org – the first-stop-shop of advice and support for 16-24 year-olds.  www.askthesite.org is part of the site and offers a question answering service for young people.

3. Thales UK is a major electronics and systems group serving defence, aerospace, security and services markets. Thales employs 9,000 staff in the UK, based at more than 50 locations.

4. Thales UK supports a wide range of eduational initiatives in science, engineering and technology involving children as young as five years old to those applying for registration with professional institutions leading to Chatership. We also run a series of apprenticeships and scholoarships for students in this area.