Latest news : New programmes for 'unemployment blackspots'

Ten cities with high graduate unemployment are being targeted as part of an outreach programme by a leading youth and education charity.

Raleigh International will attempt to recruit ten graduates from each area who will receive a graduate bursary award – worth £2,000 – for a voluntary overseas expedition.

The awards are designed to help recent graduates who otherwise wouldn’t be able to travel abroad on the ten week programmes, which aim to improve a volunteer’s employability skills and boost their CV. Successful applicants can expect to take part in expeditions to Borneo, Costa Rica, Nicaragua or India.

The ten cities listed as blackspots are Birmingham, Hastings, Hull, Leicester, Liverpool, Middlesbrough, Nottingham, Plymouth, Sunderland and Wolverhampton.

One Raleigh success story is Nicholas Oldroyd, who graduated with a degree in architecture in 2009. After failing to land a graduate role, Nicholas took part in a Raleigh expedition and was subsequently offered an architectural job three months later.

‘As important as they are on expedition, qualities such as survival, medical and radio skills weren’t the most important thing lessons Raleigh taught me. It was actually the frame of mind, my sense of purpose and my attitude that everything is possible – that is what really helped,’ he said.

Applicants to the scheme must be aged 24 or under and have graduated in 2009 or 2010. For more information and applications contact Raleigh International.