Baker and Edjenguele pay a visit to the opening of the new Rathbone centre
Coventry City FC and Sky Blues in the Community has teamed-up with a local charity to tackle one of the toughest problems facing the city – teenage unemployment.
Estimates put the number of jobless in Coventry at over five per cent with young people making up a sizeable share of that figure.
And the growth of youth unemployment has meant that Rathbone has opened a new training centre on Queen Victoria Road – which City players Carl Baker and William Edjenguele, along with David Busst, Joint Head of the Sky Blues in the Community, initiative officially launched on Tuesday.
Formerly based on Parkside, Rathbone has been fighting the corner of jobless youths by offering them the opportunity to gain skills, qualifications and work experience.
From its new Queen Victoria Road home it will continue to extend young people’s education – often by innovative means.
City skipper Carl Baker said: “I was delighted to go out and visit Rathbone, which has just moved into the city centre.
“It helps young people who may not have had the best start in life to get training or improve their qualifications and I was really impressed with it and wish there were a few more places like it to be honest.
“I went along with William Edjenguele and we both really enjoyed meeting the staff and some of the young people and they made us feel really welcome and asked us loads of questions.
“Football does get quite a lot of stick at times but when you go along to a place like that and see the positive effect the club can have, it only goes to show the power of good it can do.”
Peter Gibson, of Rathbone, said: “We had great backing from Coventry City, with staff and players coming along throughout the day of the official launch.
“Being supported by the club in this way will bring great benefits to the centre and to the young people.”