There are around 80,000 young Black men in London. They have the highest unemployment rate of all young people, regardless of their qualification levels, and are up to three times more likely to be unemployed than young White male graduates.
Action for Race Equality is committed to changing this.
Ten recommendations
Actions we believe will tackle ethnic minority youth unemployment
As the Moving on Up (MoU) programme concluded in 2024, we celebrated its decade-long impact with the MoU Awards. This event honoured the achievements of young Black men in London and recognised the dedication of employers and partners who supported them.
Watch the video to experience the highlights, celebrating the Moving on Up legacy:
Programme summary
Moving on Up (MoU) is Action for Race Equality’s ground-breaking positive action employment initiative working collaboratively to improve employment outcomes for the capital’s young Black men aged 16-24.
Discover a summary of the programme and its activities by reading the drop-down menus below:
How it started
Moving on Up’s origins lie in a 2013 Panorama programme Jobs for the Boys, when Sol Campbell reported on young Black male unemployment figures of over 50%.
In response, Trust for London and Jobcentre Plus contacted ARE to ask what could be done to address this situation. Trust for London funded us to carry out action research and in 2014 we published the Action Plan to Increase Employment Rates for Young Black Men.
As a result of this report, the Moving on Up programme started in 2015.
MoU’s activities
To address the constant disparity we are seeing in the employment rates for young Black men, Action for Race Equality is:
- Working with the GLA’s Workforce Integration Network, which is also targeting London employers to improve employment outcomes for young Black men in London.
- Engaging employers via our Employers Champions Positive Action Network (formerly the Employer Champions Group) to join strategic EDI sessions and use the Inclusive Employers Toolkit, a commissioned to MoU by the GLA. Learn more on Youtube.
- Developing and running a media campaign with award-winning creative agency BLITZWORKS targeting Senior Business Leaders to use the Employers Toolkit.
- Testing a Collective Impact Partnership approach to improve coordination of employment support services for young Black men in Brent and Newham
- Establishing a group of MoU Ambassadors – young Black men who bring their voice and experience to the design and review of the MoU programme
- Researching young Black male unemployment rates, sharing these figures in our briefing papers and lobbying policy makers to act on this evidence
- Evaluating, testing and learning about what works to engage employers, policy makers and local delivery agencies in improving employment outcomes for young Black men
Outcomes
Phase I (2015 – 2017) focused on supporting young Black men into employment resulting in over 250 young Black men securing employment.
Phase II (October 2017 – end of 2019) tested new approaches to deliver better local coordination and employer engagement focused on getting more young Black men into quality jobs and careers.
Phase III (2019 – March 2024) was the last phase of MoU. It focused on supporting young Black men into employment, with greater emphasis on encouraging employers to take action and on testing a collective impact approach to improve local coordination of employment support services for young Black men.
We won Community Partnership of the Year in the 2021 Employment Related Services Association (ERSA) awards!
ERSA is the membership body for the employment support sector.
Our partners
Moving on Up is working collaboratively with employability providers across London (Newham and Brent) to prepare young Black men for quality jobs and apprenticeships.
Contact your nearest Moving on Up partner provider to discuss your recruitment needs.
Ambassadors
The MoU Ambassador programme started in early 2020. Project partners wanted to ensure that young Black men have a robust voice within the programme and have wider influence, by serving as Ambassadors in various public and business settings.
This influence would be by sharing their views with:
- Key MoU Stakeholders (via MoU Advisory Group, workshops)
- Employers (via Employer Champions Groups)
- Partners delivering employment outcomes (via Collective Impact Partnerships)
- Other young Black men (via social media platforms, blogs and through word of mouth)
For more information, contact Programme Director: Indra Nauth
We are grateful to Trust for London and the City Bridge Foundation for their support for the Moving On Up programme.
Ten Years of LearninG…
Summarised into ten actions we believe will close employment gaps for Black, Asian, and Mixed Heritage people
Employers need to do more to #TapIntoLondonsBlackTalent. Watch our campaign film, directed by Neron Power.
Employer Positive Action Network
Employers leading workplace change (formerly the Employer Champions Group).
The program helped me see the value in myself again and helped me re-identify my strengths, and to also find new ones within my CV and work experience which I hadn’t come across before.”
Young person, ELBA
A MoU Collective Impact Partner
Working with the Mayor’s team.
Moving on Up works closely with the Mayor of London’s Workforce Integration Network.
The Mayor launched the Workforce Integration Network (WIN) in 2018 as part of his Strategy for Social Integration, to improve pathways for underrepresented groups in the workplace. Like Moving on Up, the WIN programme is supporting young black men aged 16 to 24 years into living wage employment in London.
In 2020, they commissioned MoU to conduct research into the development of the free Inclusive Employers Toolkit for Senior Leaders and Hiring Managers.
