Political comment: Havant MP Alan Mak congratulates Link Up Leigh Park on three years helping young people

Havant MP Alan Mak has congratulated Link Up Leigh Park on three years of providing opportunities to young people.

He has also welcomed the continued funding of Link Up Leigh Park's Youth Hub service.

The Link Up Leigh Park project includes the University of Portsmouth and Havant & South Downs College and is focused on removing social, health and economic barriers to 16-24-year-olds accessing high-quality, high-value work.

It is part of the Economies for Healthier Lives programme, funded by The Health Foundation charity, and is aimed at strengthening the relationship between economic development and health.

Mr Mak said: "Link Up Leigh Park has played a very important role in enabling local young people to access training or find employment. Congratulations to the team for what they've achieved in the past three years and I'll continue to support their work in the future."

The additional Link Up Leigh Park Youth Hub service, which supports 16 to 24-year-olds across the borough by helping them with CV writing, job applications, interview attendance and confidence-building, was created two years ago under the last Conservative Government and is funded by central Government.

Havant Borough Council has been awarded more than £91,000 from the Department of Work and Pensions to extend the service until July 2025.

In its third year, the Youth Hub will focus on personal development and wellbeing through Empower You - a 12-week programme which will enable individuals to understand and utilise their skills and values.

Mr Mak said: "It's great news that the Youth Hub has been granted funding for another year. I've visited several times and know what valuable work is being done there to help local young people."

To find out more about Link Up Leigh Park, email [email protected].

To find out more about the Youth Hub, email [email protected].