Chart-scaling Hackney-born pop star Paloma Faith joined a group of young unemployed people singing outside the Houses of Parliament on Monday.
Young campaigner Ava Patel and the Youth Voice Collective choir, who sang M People’s hit Proud, are aiming to raise awareness about the high level of youth unemployment in Britain during the week of the Conservative Party Conference in Birmingham.
Ms Patel, an unemployed journalism graduate, says she has applied for hundreds of jobs and been unable to find full time paid employment. She has formed the choir in an effort to push youth unemployment up the political agenda.
Ms Faith, who struggled to find a full time paid job after completing her Masters degree at Central Saint Martins, said: “I’ve probably done every unappealing job under the sun. (But) I’ve always been somebody that’s gone out and worked with the focus that one day my time will come, and actually that’s the way that I got to where I am now.”
Over one million people aged 18-24 are currently unemployed in the UK. The event was staged as part of Channel 4’s Battlefront campaign.
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