Care to stick your hand out and say: “Give concessionary passes to young jobseekers”?
One national charity did recently; and then felt the backlash from older people who feared that meant taking their free bus travel away!
But the notion of giving the young unemployed a free ride is not such a controversial one, especially when you consider that first jobs and new openings can often spring up out-of-town. Put simply, for the disadvantaged or those based in remote areas, the price of travel (from car insurance to spiralling train fares) is just too hefty.
Take the young people of Partington, Greater Manchester, home to the training grounds of Manchester City and United. It sounds like a centrally based location but local youngsters in fact face a fifty-five minute journey into town since the neighbourhood boasts little or no industry.
Boom and bust means that places that were once a hive of industry have struggled of late. For example, manufacturing and mines were once king in Wigan. Now they have been consigned to history. Apprentice Andrew Pyke decided his best option was to leave his beloved town and work in the big city, not a decision taken lightly. “It felt like a big change when I first came to Manchester” admits the 19 year-old, “I’d only been shopping there before and getting off the train was like joining an army on the march!”
Ambitious Andrew spends three hours per day travelling to and from work and around a quarter of his apprenticeship wage is sunk into train fares. Emma Bamber meanwhile is in the fortunate position of having her rail tickets – which take her from Ashton-under-Lyne to Manchester – paid for by Rathbone as part of her Access to Apprenticeship course.
Said Emma: “Some of my friends think it’s just too far to travel and too dear. But you will never go far unless you put your mind to it and stick to a job.”
Heyder Rashid has heard similar gripes. “Quite a few of my mates won’t travel because of the cost and the time” says the Fundraising Apprentice. Heyder is classed as a full-time worker and travelling at peak times and across a county border means he receives no discount. “There are call centres where I live in Warrington but there have been lots of cuts to public sector jobs” continued Heyder, who works a 12 hour day with travel. “I do see this as a stepping stone to something better but know I need to make sacrifices.”
If travel seems like a bugbear, don’t despair, instead consider the following:
- Concessionary travel might be a mixed bag but some transport operators offer superb deals. Go and check them out!
- Flexible working has become more prevalent, so if you are worried about the time it takes to get back and forward, seek out bosses who are prepared to be pliable about hours
- Train with an organisation such as Rathbone that provide bursaries, travel and subsistence costs to their learners.
Pictured is Andrew Pyke
