Stephen Lloyd, partner at law firm Bates Wells and Braithwaite, has called on all charities to help combat youth unemployment by supporting one or more NEET (not employed, in education or in training) young person.

Speaking at the NCVO Trustee Conference yesterday, Lloyd  said charities in the future were facing a “period of historic change and a paradigm shift” for society:

“I don’t think the good times prior to 2006 are coming back,” he warned. “It will be a very difficult long-term period.

“Between 1976 and the 2000s Britain’s society was the most equal in history, now it is almost as unequal as in the 19th century. This is a huge problem especially for charities.”

Later in his speech, Lloyd referred to the worldwide Occupy movement which he said was looking to “make money matter less and values matter more”:

“We as a sector have around a million trustees and 220,000 charities. In the UK, one milion young people are NEET. It is now four times more difficult to get an apprenticeship at British Aerospace than to get into Cambridge."

Lloyd, who was also the architect of the Community Interest Company, said if every charity supported one or more NEETs they could help combat youth employment by taking them on as helpers, volunteers, interns or trustees.

His call was supported by Martha Lane Fox, founder of lastminute.com and the government’s digital champion, who spoke at the event on charities' digital engagement.

Fox said charities could utilise the skills of young people to bring digital skills into organisations.

“Use young people to help with technology in a tangible way,” she said.