In April 2021, the DWP awarded BVSC with eighteen placements for the Kickstart scheme. We approached Kickstart both as an employer and also as an alternative to a gateway organisation. By acting as the gateway alternative, we provided organisations within our sector who were either not eligible for Kickstart placements, or had previously has their own applications rejected, the opportunity to bring young people into their places of work. The response to the BVSC offering was phenomenal with all 18 role opportunities going live in job centres by the end of September 2021. Since September we have successful filled 50% of our vacant positions. With the end of the Kickstart scheme now extended to March 2022, we are aiming to fill all vacancies before the scheme comes to an end.

Our current Kickstart vacancies are available to view on the BVSC jobs page. Any young people aged between 18 – 24 who are claiming Universal credit and interested in our vacancies need to quote the BVSC postcode ‘B5 6DR’ at their local job centre and the job title to be referred to the position and then email a copy of their CV to be [email protected]