Young people from ethnic minority backgrounds in West Yorkshire are set to benefit from a £1.7 million grant to tackle workplace discrimination and support employment opportunities, Youth Futures Foundation announced today.
The Hamara Centre has been selected to lead the project targeted at young people with Bangladeshi and Pakistani heritage living in Leeds and Bradford. Nearly half of people (45%) in Bradford and one in ten in Leeds under the age of 21 have South Asian heritage.
The funding announcement comes after new research from Youth Futures Foundation found that almost half of young people from an ethnic minority background have experienced prejudice or discrimination when seeking to enter the workplace. This research is based on the largest survey of young people from ethnic minority backgrounds carried out in the UK, interviewing 3,250 young people.
Last year, Youth Futures Foundation worked with 30 organisations including the Hamara Centre to explore systemic barriers facing Bangladeshi and Pakistani communities and identify organisations to pursue potential solutions. As part of this, the Hamara Centre engaged with 157 young people as well as family and community members with Bangladeshi, Pakistani, and other British Muslim backgrounds.
