Maikai and Spurs in the Community launch Call Up, a new youth employment model

TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR STADIUM, 6 November 2026. Call Up launches today, bringing together employers, public services and local communities to tackle one of the most persistent challenges facing young people: getting into work and staying there.

The programme is built on a simple idea. Rather than asking young people to navigate applications, courses and work experience in the hope of eventually finding a job, Call Up starts by engaging employers to identify real roles and opportunities. It then connects young people to those opportunities, prepares them for work and provides the training, mentoring and ongoing support they need to succeed.

Employers are being invited to make practical commitments to the programme, including job opportunities, work experience, internships, skills development and mentoring. The ambition is to build a coalition of employers prepared to play an active role in helping a new generation enter and progress in the workplace.

A new approach built around four principles

Call Up is built around four principles that challenge the way youth employment support is traditionally delivered.

1. Start with the job

Helping young people into work starts with understanding their potential and connecting them to real opportunities. The challenge is finding those opportunities and creating a pathway into them.

Call Up brings employers to the table and asks them to identify the roles and skills they need most. Employers are then supported to open those opportunities to young people who might otherwise be overlooked.

Alongside paid roles, employers can contribute work experience, internships, career insight, interview preparation and mentoring. The aim is to create a genuine pathway into employment, not simply another training programme.

2. Stay alongside the young person all the way

Getting someone into a job is only half the challenge. For a young person entering the workplace for the first time, the transition can be difficult. Understanding workplace expectations, building relationships, managing new responsibilities and dealing with setbacks all require support.

Every Call Up participant will have a named, trusted adult alongside them from the outset. This person will help prepare them for work, support the transition into employment, maintain regular contact and help resolve problems.

The aim is not simply to help young people secure a first job, but to support their longer-term progression into apprenticeships, further training and sustainable careers.

3. Build it around place

Young people, employers and communities are different in every locality. Employment support is most effective when it understands the local labour market, the organisations already working with young people and the relationships that make communities work.

Spurs in the Community provides a powerful local anchor for Call Up. Its connection with the local community, its reach among young people and its network of business relationships offer a unique platform for bringing together employers and local partners.

Working with organisations across Haringey, Call Up will connect existing initiatives around a shared objective: creating meaningful routes into employment for young people.

The ambition extends beyond Tottenham. Maikai will work with other football clubs, mayors and local authorities to develop the model, retaining the same core principles while adapting to the needs of each locality.

4. Support the employer

Creating opportunities for young people entering the workforce can bring challenges for employers, particularly when it comes to training, funding and navigating available support.

Call Up brings together the range of funding mechanisms available, with employers able to access up to £8,000 in combined funding for each eligible new employee.

But funding alone is not enough. Call Up will also help employers access funded apprenticeship training and provide ongoing practical support to develop new talent.

“Young people tell us that talent is everywhere you look in Tottenham, but opportunity is not. Together Tottenham is designed to change that by creating a clear and supported journey from early engagement and education into employment and leadership.”

“Spurs in the Community will be the front door to that journey, using our trusted local relationships and youth expertise to help each young person take the next step. Call Up is an important new part of that promise, connecting young people directly with employers, apprenticeships and careers.”

“Call Up starts with real jobs, stays alongside young people all the way through the process and gives employers the support to make those opportunities work. We are delighted to be working with Tottenham Hotspur and Spurs in the Community to show how business, sport and local communities can come together to change the way young people access employment.”

Building a model that can travel

By investing in employers as well as young people, Call Up aims to create the conditions for sustained employment and progression.

Tottenham is where it begins, bringing together employers prepared to open up opportunities with young people ready to take their first steps into the workforce.

The ambition is to establish a model that can be adopted across the country. Employers, football clubs, mayors and local authorities all have a role to play in making that happen. This generation deserves it.