HGVC, has teamed up with Youth First CIO, a London-based charity dedicated to helping young people get into work, to provide HGV driving training to disadvantaged young Londoners. The partnership will create an “HGV career pathway” as part of Youth First’s Youth Employment Scheme (YES) for 15 young people aged 17 to 19 over the course of a year.

The initiative will primarily benefit young people from the most disadvantaged backgrounds in Lewisham, a borough in South East London, who often face complex domestic situations and peer pressure. The combination of Youth First’s Youth Employability Scheme and HGVC’s HGV driving course will equip these young people with the skills and structure they need to become HGV drivers and help address the shortage of drivers in the capital.

Despite HGV driver salaries starting at around £32,000 per year and having the potential to rise to £40,000 with experience, HGV driving is not a commonly considered career for young people. A common barrier to entering the industry is the requirement to already have a driving licence, which many disadvantaged young people lack.

The HGV career pathway eliminates these challenges by providing young people with the opportunity to obtain a driving licence while also preparing them for the workforce. They will gain valuable skills such as teamwork, punctuality, planning, and creativity, as well as receive training in CV and application preparation, interview skills, and role play. Local HGV employers will host taster days, and those who obtain their driving licence will be offered an induction into the HGV driving training programme.

Employers in need of HGV drivers can partner with HGVC and Youth First to fund the initiative and recruit potential HGV drivers upon completion. HGVC and Youth First are also appealing to London-based employers who want to support young people in Lewisham through their corporate social responsibility initiatives.

James Clifford, CEO of HGVC, said: “The average age of an HGV driver is around 50 years old. The industry often struggles to recruit and retain younger drivers. So, anything we can do to help to get younger people interested in HGV driving as a long-term career is a huge positive. The Youth Employability Scheme helps overcome a significant barrier to getting young people into the industry around the need to already have a driving license. What’s more, we’re delighted to do what we can to support a scheme which aims to help young, disadvantaged people who may come from difficult domestic environments and often face peer pressure to choose a less desirable path in life. We’d welcome any employer who’d like to support the scheme to get in touch.”

Mervyn Kaye, CEO at Youth First, said: “All young people have an equal right to healthy, happy childhoods, leading to a fulfilling adult life. Our programmes give younger people based in Lewisham the skills and resilience to stick to education and prepare for working life. When the country is crying out for younger HGV drivers, our driving career pathway will help us train young people in rewarding careers while helping reduce the chance of later long-term unemployment. We hope retailers, logistics companies and local employers will help us improve Lewisham young people’s prospects by supporting them to obtain a driving license and gain practical insight into careers as an HGV driver.”