Sherrelle Collman, Managing Director of Caridon Landlord Solutions and Mario Carrozzo, CEO of Caridon Group, have been supporting Legacy Youth Zone’s Employability Course to help young people in Croydon take their next steps into education, training and employment.
Legacy Youth Zone, located on Whitehorse Road, Croydon, offers young people, aged 8-25, “somewhere to go, something to do, and someone to talk to”.Just three months after opening (7th September), Legacy has more than 4,300 members.
Many of the young people who attend Legacy have not yet had the opportunity to earn their own money, may be trying to save, get their first job or look for new accommodation, all of which can be challenging for a young person without support. One of the key issues that Sherrelle Collman’s organisation, Caridon Landlord Solutions, seeks to combat is the lack of understanding around Universal Credit and Housing Benefit following the government’s Welfare Reforms. Sherrelle volunteered to run a workshop and one-to-one sessions at Legacy’s Employability course to help young people understand what benefits they are entitled to, how a change in circumstances can change this, how to make a claim if they are eligible and what to do if they fall into rent arrears.
To complement this, Mario Carrozzo, CEO of Caridon Group, also ran a workshop sharing his own personal story of success to inspire the group to think about their future, what they can achieve and how to get there.
Shinead Kanu, Enterprise and Employability Coordinator at Legacy, said: “We are so grateful to Sherrelle and Mario for their valuable time and expert input. The attendees all said how helpful it was to have experts who understand their situation and to speak to someone who could give very relevant advice. Some of the young people on the course are not used to thinking ahead and maybe haven’t had adults around them who know the system and can support them into the future, so it is amazing when Legacy can connect them to great people who can really help transform lives.”
Of the first group of young people that Sherrelle Collman and Mario Carrozzo met back in October, one is going to University to complete a degree, two are going on to become apprentices and two are going into possible employment.
Legacy will be starting their next 8-10 week Employability Course in January and have invited Sherrelle and Mario to run further workshops.They are also looking for more business leaders from different industry sectors to volunteer and help share their experience and expertise with the young people of Legacy.
To join Legacy or enquire about the Employability courses:
https://www.legacyyouthzone.org/
For help and advice with Housing Benefit or Universal Credit
https://www.caridonlandlordsolutions.co.uk/