My Futures Team

The My Futures Team supports young people aged 13-19 in Merton either at risk of becoming Not in Education, Employment or Training (NEET) or who are currently NEET.

The team offers support in a variety of schools in the borough providing one-to-one  and group work sessions for the 13-16 age group, with the main goal to prevent young people becoming NEET. This service can be tailored to best suit the schools need's, depending on the challenges being faced by the school. Sessions are  focused on securing a place in some form of Education, Training or Employment (ETE) once they are post 16, with an emphasis on staying in education until 18 (in keeping with the Raising of the Participation Age (RPA) expectations). 

We also support the 16-19 age group of young people who are NEET in a community setting, working on securing an ETE place. This will involve mentoring, CV and application support along with obtaining work experience and building confidence and self-belief, using a youth work led approach in building relationships and trust with each young person. They also run holiday programmes for young people to experience new activities, build social skills, with an emphasis on preparation for being in an ETE setting around peers again. We also provide a counselling service within our team, exploring the deeper barriers that are causing our young people to remain NEET.

The My Futures team track all of the NEET young people in Merton aged under 18 and those whose status is not known. This is done through obtaining information from schools and colleges, along with sending out letters, emails and phone calls to find out young people's destinations of ETE placements. Home visits are carried out to best support this process in identifying any NEET young people in the borough we are unaware of.