Our #NotGeneration campaign has launched on 19 November 2025, raising awareness of the growing number of young people who aren’t earning or learning. Labelled ‘NEET’ – not in education, employment or training – they’re known for what they’re not doing, and are at risk of becoming the ‘Not Generation’.
This campaign is about the potential we’re all missing out on. As an employment charity, we’ve seen first-hand what young people can achieve when they’re given the right support.
We’ve put the voice of young people front and centre in this campaign – quite literally: the campaign video was voiced by Raphael, who we supported, and who is now working with us as our youth ambassador. Read Raphael’s story here.
Campaigning for change
Our campaign has three aims:
- Highlighting the ‘triple-whammy’ of challenges that young people face, such as fewer jobs, increasing competition for entry-level roles, and misconceptions about their work ethic.
- Shifting the focus to their potential, sharing real stories of those who have moved into work or training with the right support.
- Announcing our £2 million investment in a new pilot scheme in West London and the North of England.
We’re asking everyone to do their bit. This could be by creating more support, considering young people for jobs, or getting behind this generation by sharing our video, with the hashtag #NotGeneration.
“We need to take action now.”
Julie Leonard, Chief Impact Officer at Shaw Trust, said: “Almost a million young people are ‘not in education, employment, or training’ – they’ve become known as ‘NEET’. They’re not earning or learning, they’re not finding work, they’re not moving forward with life – they’re defined by the things they’re not doing. We talk about Gen X, Millennials and Gen Z – this generation of young people are at risk of becoming the ‘Not Generation’. This isn’t right, it’s not working, and it’s not good enough.
“We need to take action now. At Shaw Trust we’re planning a £2 million investment of our charitable funding into a pilot scheme to help young people get ready for work.
“But there’s more we can do – we need to help government bring data together to better target support, to work with communities and employers to consider young people for jobs, and get the public to give this generation a real chance.”
