On Tuesday 7th March, the Talent Match Hub at Collage Arts hosted a visit from Damian Hinds MP, the Minister of State for Employment. The Talent Match London partnership is led by London Youth with delivery in North London led by Collage Arts with Rinova and KORI.

The Minister was able to hear about the wider perspective of the national Talent Match Programme, which operates in 21 specific areas across the country, from senior figures at the Big Lotttery Fund, ERSA (the Employment Related Services Association) and Movement to Work (a voluntary collaboration of leading employers,  including Barclays, BT, Centrica, Diageo, HSBC, M&S, National Grid, Tesco, Unilever and many more) helping young people NEET to enter the labour market.

The Minister was also able to meet young people on the Talent Match programme at Collage Arts to find out more about their local and international experiences – and how the approach to Talent Match in London was the key inspiration for Talent Matching Europe, an Erasmus+ programme where Collage Arts and Rinova are sharing the practice and experiences from Talent Match London with international partners in Spain, Poland, Italy, Croatia and Macedonia, including a recent conference and knowledge exchange seminar in Barcelona.

To find out more about the ministerial visit, click here and, for more information about what has been achieved by Talent Match so far, click here.