FAMOUS people from Keighley’s past and present will help inspire today’s local young people to find jobs or training.

Oscar-winning screenwriter Simon Beaufoy and Star Wars actor Peter Mayhew have been enlisted.

The ‘NEET Free Keighley’ campaign will also focus on local heroes like historian and Keighley News columnist Ian Dewhirst, BBC weather presenter Paul Hudson and politicians Ann Cryer, Kris Hopkins and Javaid Akhtar.

Keighley Talent campaign will also draw on the town’s past, with figures like war poet Gordon Bottomley, professional boxer Percy Vear and renowned 1970s MP Bob Cryer.

Keighley Talent will run throughout October and will be aimed at the town’s 160 16 to 19-year-olds not in education, employment or training (NEET).

Social media will be used to tell the unemployed teenagers about a different person each day, who has been successful in sport, television, media, art or business.

Organisations from Keighley’s voluntary sector have teamed up with Bradford Council and Prospects, the organisation that delivers Connexions information and careers advice, to try the new approach to reducing the number of NEETs.

The aim is to encourage a new generation of talent and get them into employment and training, by ensuring their needs are quickly identified and they receive the right support.

Support workers can then help young people get the personal and employability skills they need to move ahead in the job market.

The organisations came together to try the new approach in areas where the number of NEETs is high. The figure is ten per cent of 16 to 18-year-olds in Keighley.

Current approaches include assertive outreach methods by Connexions personal advisers, community centre activities and support, and drop-in sessions at existing projects and youth groups.

Jenny Cryer, senior operations director for Prospects, said the intention is to create ‘NEET-Free Keighley’ by working together and asking the people and businesses in the town to help.

Councillor Susan Hinchcliffe, Bradford Council’s portfolio holder for education, skills and culture, said: “We want all our young people to make the most of the opportunities that are open to them.

“We’re taking a joined-up approach so we can pool expertise and resources and focus on what works.”

Anna Shepherd, development manager with the Joint Activities and Motor Education Services (JAMES), said: "The project truly shows how we can all work together to make a real difference for NEET young people in Keighley; there is so much going on in the town and such potential for inspiring and raising aspirations for all!”

lWhat do you think? We welcome letters on this or any other subject. E-mail richard.parker@keighleynews.co.uk or write to the Content Editor, Keighley News, 80-86 North Street, Keighley, West Yorkshire BD21 3AG. Please include your full name, address and daytime telephone number.