Young Women’s Trust

Young Women’s Trust supports young women aged 18-30, especially those struggling to live on low or no pay, to get into work that is right for them.

Shaw Trust

A specialist service to help people gain an education, enter work, develop their career, improve their wellbeing, or rebuild their lives. Helps young people get back into employment and/or training.

The Mix

Free advice and counselling online for under 25s.  They aim to connect every texter to a trained volunteer in less than five minutes to provide crisis help. They will listen to you and help you think more clearly, enabling you to know that you can take the next step to feeling better.  The trained volunteer will introduce themselves, reflect on what you have said, and invite you to share at your own pace. You will text back and forth, only sharing what you feel comfortable with. By asking questions, listening to you, and responding with support, they will help you sort through your feelings until you both feel you are now in a calm, safe place. You might be provided with some signposting to other services offered by The Mix or partner organisations, so that you can continue to get support.

Turning Point

Turning Point is a social enterprise, providing health and social care services in over 300 locations across England. They work with people who need support with their drug and alcohol use, mental health, offending behaviour, unemployment issues and people with a learning disability. They aim to inspire and empower them to discover new possibilities in their lives.

Turning Point offer you or a family member/friend a range of services depending on what you need, from detox and residential rehab to supported living and aftercare support.

National Prisoners’ Families Helpline website for England and Wales

The National Prisoners’ Families Helpline can support you if a family member is in contact with the criminal justice system. We provide advice and information on all aspects from what happens on arrest, visiting a prison to preparing for release. We support families in England and Wales, and you can find information about organisations who can support you in Scotland and Northern Ireland on our website.

Shell LiveWIRE

Shell LiveWIRE is the UK’s biggest online community for creative and innovative young entrepreneurs aged 16-30.The LiveWIRE programme supports them with ideas that meet the energy and resource needs of a fast-growing population, providing access to a wealth of networking opportunities and advice. Over the last 30 years it has helped over 880,000 young people to explore starting their own business and has provided £5 million of funding. 

Free business resources can be found within the Business Library of the LiveWIRE website, which features Access to Finance Navigator, a digital database of investment sources most applicable for enterprises in the low-carbon, clean-tech and sustainability sectors. 

The Shell LiveWIRE Smarter Future Programme regularly awards £5,000 in start-up funding and mentoring to help individuals to fulfil their potential. There are profiles of past winners supported through the programme going back to 1982.

National Careers Service

This organisation or service is supportive of young people with special educational needs & disabilities in their preparation for adulthood and independent living.

The National Careers Service provides guidance to help you make decisions on learning, training and work.

• Explore careers – find out what a job involves and if it’s right for you
• Skills assessment – discover what kinds of jobs could suit you
• Find a course – look for courses and learning providers

There’s also valuable advice on how to look for and apply for jobs tackling the different stages of the job hunt:

• Finding advertised job vacancies
• Networking by word of mouth
• Making your CV stand out
• Writing covering letters
• Filling in paper and online application forms
• Preparing and performing well at job interviews – the top 10 common questions employers ask

Apprenticeships

This Government Advice service is supportive of young people with special educational needs & disabilities in their preparation for adulthood and independent living. Government information outlines what you need to know about becoming an apprentice and finding an apprenticeship in England.