The Secretary of State for work and pensions Iain Duncan Smith took a tour today of Ipswich’s new youth unemployment centre, MyGo.
The centre, based in Fraser House, offers 16-to-24-year-olds free training, career and employment support, and is the first of its kind in the UK.
Ipswich MP Ben Gummer and Mr Duncan Smith were shown around the centre and met MyGo coaches and young people using the facilities.
Mr Duncan Smith said he believed MyGo could succeed in its mission to halve youth unemployment in the greater Ipswich area in the next two years.
“It can put Ipswich on the map for a place where young people can come and get employment”, he said.
“This is the beginning of a real success story for Ipswich.
“It’s going to be what people talk about - they are going to be taking about ‘the Ipswich experience’.”
More than 300 people have used MyGo’s services since it opened on November 10.
Funding for the centre was freed up through the Greater Ipswich City Deal, and Mr Gummer said it was a great example of localism in action.
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