The Big Onion has been praised by a Government Minister for its “excellent work in trying to help young people into work”.
The organisation opened a hub in the Town Hall Gardens in Southport town centre in October last year, and also has a base inside The Strand shopping centre in Bootle.
It has a superb track record of success through supporting hundreds of talented young people into careers in Sefton.
Their impact has now been recognised by Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Pat McFadden in Parliament during a debate on Youth Hubs.
Speaking in the debate, Southport MP Patrick Hurley asked:
“Will the Minister join me in recognising the work of the Big Onion, which provides skills training, employment support and related services in my Southport Constituency?
“It has supported more than 1,400 young people into careers across the wider borough.
“Will the Minister also set out what further support the Department can give to community organisations like that, and how its success can be shared across the whole youth hub programme?”
“Pat McFadden The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions replied:
“The Big Onion is one of a number of organisations doing excellent work in trying to help young people into work.
“It is part of a larger partner group that the local job centres work closely with.
“In fact, one of our youth employability coaches is based with the partner group in the town hall once a week.
“This is exactly why we are expanding youth hubs across the country, so that we can work with other organisations to take the help where young people need it in the community.”
The Big Onion launched in Southport last October, in the former Crave pizza cafe in the Town Hall gardens on Lord Street, to offer ‘life-changing’ opportunities for local people.
The hub enables people operating social enterprises or community initiatives to provide their services from a central location with support from Merseyside Expanding Horizons and without the costs of paying out for commercial high street premises.
The first Big Onion opened at The Strand shopping centre in Bootle and has been a huge success.
Merseyside Expanding Horizons has now been backed by Sefton Council to replicate that success in Southport, with a new pop-up space that will operate until work begins on the £10 million revitalisation of the Town Hall Gardens.
Speaking at the launch, Big Onion founder Chris Lewis said:
“In addition to redesigning the high street, and bringing independent traders back onto the high street, we are bringing opportunities onto the high street as well.
“Not only are we incubating businesses, we’re working with people to improve their skills, and we’re helping people to find employment and move on with their career.
“For those of you who have been there, I think you’ll agree it’s a unique space, the first one of its kind, and we did it in Bootle with the support of Sefton Council, which has been fantastic.
“Part of the work we do at Merseyside Expanding Horizons is through a contract we have with InvestSefton, we deliver the business start-up support in the borough.
“In the last few years, what we’ve noticed is the number of socially trading organisations in the borough, or community enterprises, or social enterprises, coming through. It’s fantastic.”
For more details about The Big Onion please email Chris Lewis at: hrislewis@expandinghorizons.co.uk
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