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Give Us Something To Stay Here For: A Level Students Respond To Levelling-Up Plans For Grimsby


Tollbar MAT Sixth Form College Politics students discuss the Government’s White Paper on Levelling-Up, filmed by an ITV Calendar news crew.



Sixth Form students in Grimsby say the Government’s levelling-up plans need to give aspirational young people something to stay in the region for.

Two hundred students are currently studying for their A Levels at Tollbar MAT Sixth Form College but many of them say they will have to move away from the town to further both their studies and their future careers because of a lack of opportunities in Grimsby.

Year 12 and 13 Politics students gave their views to ITV’s Calendar News team as the Government published its White Paper on Levelling-Up.

Josh Wilkins (18) said he plans to go to university to study Law. He says the Government’s tokenist approach to investment is not enough to level up towns in the North with the South and, without huge investment, the brain drain of students like him will continue.

“I have peers here at the Sixth Form College with huge potential. They are skilled people but they won’t be able to stay here unless there is something for them to stay for. We need opportunities to stop this brain drain otherwise young people will continue to seek out other areas to live.”

Emmie Thomsen agreed. She said: “I want to be a journalist, but I have always known that living in a small town in the North would leave me at a disadvantage with others in that field. I have a friend who went to live in London and now she has an apprenticeship in Journalism and some amazing opportunities that she would not have had here.”

Riley Gelder said: ”Levelling-up to me is an attempt to try and balance out the country’s regional decline. Growing up in Grimsby you can definitely tell on the streets that there is social deprivation. There is nothing to do here and there are no great pubs or restaurants or places for people to go.

“I plan to stick around, but if I cannot find an apprenticeship or a job I do worry that I will have to move out of the area, what else am I supposed to do.”

Maddy Wainman who hopes to study History in Scotland has already decided to move out of the area. “I think there is a lot of deprivation, not just socially, but in terms of Culture and the Arts, and I think university will give me opportunities to go elsewhere.

“I want to work in History but there is very little chance to do that in this area and with poor transport links to London and other regions it can take most of a day to get anywhere.”

Malakai Hammond said: “I think it is incredibly necessary that we finally see some attempt to balance the divide between North and South because it often can feel like we have been left 30 years behind everywhere else. Even when you are just walking round you can tell that we live in such a deprived area.

“There is a real lack of opportunity here that might have been available to people like me elsewhere, and there is a severe lack of apprenticeships. There is a stigma here that you go to school and college and then go to university elsewhere because there is no encouragement to stay. I cannot think of any friends who wish to stay in Grimsby because the opportunities are better elsewhere.

“I think if I knew that Grimsby had the same opportunities as the South it would be brilliant, not just for jobs, but to restore a bit of pride in people. Opportunity is everything to people round here because there is such a lack of it. I would stay here if Grimsby had the same infrastructure as the South and I can guarantee a lot more people would too, because why not?

Ali Abu Hamideh gave his views on the levelling-up agenda. “To me it is about the refocus, the reinvestment and the regeneration of all deprived areas. I think there are lots of regional disparities and I think there needs to be investment in opportunities. It is more about rebalance and restructure. 

“I think there might have been more opportunities available to me as a young person had I lived in the South. I think there are no pull factors for Grimsby but there are many push factors for people wanting to move away. I see absolutely no reason for me to stay in Grimsby in the next five years as I think there are better opportunities elsewhere. 

“I would like to think that if there were good jobs and investment in infrastructure in Grimsby then I would see no reason to travel anywhere else.”

Simon Ritchie, Head of Sixth Form, said: “It is really important we look at towns like this in terms of what the future holds for young people. I have 200 young people here who are aspirational and who all want to upskill and become something. My concern is that in our area there are not enough opportunities for them to use those skills.”


Tollbar MAT Sixth Form College Year 13 Politics student Josh Wilkins chats with a camera crew from ITV Calendar about levelling-up and what Grimsby needs to do to retain aspirational young people.


Riley Gelder gives his views on levelling-up the North.

 Emmie Thomsen discusses what Grimsby needs to do for people like her.

Ali Abu Hamideh believes there is a lot of regional disparity between the North and South that must be addressed.

Tollbar MAT Head of Sixth Form, Simon Ritchie, gives his views on improving the future for young people in the town.

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