Nearly one million young people across the UK are now not in education, employment or training (NEET), with experts warning the country is facing a growing youth employment crisis. In response, the North East Ambulance Service (NEAS) and The King's Trust are working together to help young people across the North East overcome barriers to employment and build rewarding careers in the NHS.
The organisations have welcomed a new group of participants onto the ‘Get Started with NEAS’ programme, which equips young people with the confidence, skills, and experience needed to secure employment, while opening the door to careers as NHS 111 and 999 health advisors.
The partnership comes at a critical time. A government-commissioned review published this month found 957,000 young people aged 16 to 24 (12.8%) across England are currently not in education, employment or training (NEET) - almost one in eight young people. The North East has the highest NEET rate of any region in England, with around 61,700 young people (20.4%) currently out of work or education. Communities across Newcastle, Sunderland, Gateshead, County Durham, Northumberland and Teesside are disproportionately affected by barriers to employment, particularly among young people from lower working-class and disadvantaged backgrounds. Through their partnership, NEAS and The King's Trust are helping to change that by providing practical support, workplace experience and a direct route into NHS careers.
For almost 50 years, The King's Trust has supported young people facing adversity by helping them build the confidence and skills needed to move into work, education, or training. Through its partnership with NEAS, the charity is connecting young people with practical employability support and genuine career opportunities within the NHS.
Participants take part in practical workshops covering careers at NEAS, application writing, interview preparation, online assessments, confidence building, resilience, and wellbeing before spending time with colleagues from the Trust's emergency operations centre (EOC), gaining a realistic insight into life as a 111/999 health advisor.
The role is one of the most important in the ambulance service. In 2025/26, NEAS health advisors answered more than 1.47 million NHS 111 and emergency 999 calls and treated more than 56,000 patients over the phone. As the first point of contact for patients, they play a vital role in ensuring people receive the right care as quickly as possible.
The first ‘Get Started with NEAS’ programme has already demonstrated the impact of the partnership, with participants progressing through the Trust's standard recruitment process and some still employed by NEAS, helping patients across the region every day.
Learning from the pilot has helped shape this year's programme, with an even greater emphasis on emotional resilience, wellbeing, and preparing participants for the realities of working in emergency healthcare.
Nicola Couley, recruitment business partner at the North East Ambulance Service, said: "This partnership is about much more than recruitment. Together with The King's Trust, we're creating opportunities for young people who may never have considered a career with NEAS or believed it was within their reach.
"We know there are talented young people across our communities who face barriers to employment. By providing practical support, building confidence and offering a real insight into NHS careers, we're helping them realise their potential while developing a workforce that reflects the communities we serve.
"We're incredibly proud to see participants from our first programme now working within NEAS, making a real difference to patients across our region every day."
Luke Roberts, youth development lead at The King's Trust, said: "At The King's Trust, we believe every young person should have the chance to succeed, regardless of the challenges they face. Programmes like Get Started with NEAS help break down barriers to employment by giving young people the confidence, skills and support they need to take that next step.
"Following the success of last year's programme, we're proud to continue working alongside NEAS to create life-changing opportunities for young people across the North East. The feedback from participants has been overwhelmingly positive, with many telling us they now feel far more confident and prepared to apply for roles they previously thought were out of reach.
"We're grateful to everyone at NEAS whose commitment and enthusiasm has made the programme such a success, and we're excited to see where this year's participants go next."
By combining The King's Trust's expertise in supporting young people into employment with meaningful NHS career opportunities, the partnership is helping to tackle one of the country's biggest workforce challenges while ensuring more young people can build fulfilling careers serving their local communities.