Through the incredible commitment of our diverse team of volunteers, we are able to offer a unique opportunity to introduce and connect our young people to a huge variety of roles and opportunities in London and take advantage of the opportunities that can come from direct relationships.

We have seen over the years what an incredible impact direct access to seeing, learning about and being introduced to different worlds of work can have on young people. You cannot be what you do not see and our scheme aims to support young people to imagine beyond their immediate experience, while also giving them tangible opportunities too.

The recognition in recent months and years of the lack of diversity and institutional racism in many industries will take time to change. We hope that our employability programme provides an opportunity to speed up the progress of change for young people from Hackney in a tangible way now. Forging supported introductions to a myriad of industries and roles and working with young people and employers to make that a success.

Talking Quest started as a pilot in 2022 when we formed a partnership with Therapy Rebels who provide the therapeutic side of Talking Quest. From the outset we asked young people what they needed and how we could design a service that would be accessible to them, designing a solution that helped young people overcome barriers such as stigma, lack of representation, limited trust and long waiting lists. Our programme is designed to promote access to mental health services and reduce inequalities to better health and wellbeing. By connecting young people to the potential of mental health support in a place they trust, we help young people who do not trust other services to engage with support.  

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If you think you may have opportunities or connections that could help us in this work please email bella@hackneyquest.org.uk.