Inspiring the cleaning stars of tomorrow

THE BRITISH Institute of Cleaning Science (BICSc) is striving to highlight the numerous career opportunities for young people within the global cleaning sector and has pledged its significant support by investing thousands of pounds for online developments to help encourage more to join the profession.

BICSc substantial investment has resulted in the creation of a dedicated online hub the Cleaning Industry Careers Guide, which has just launched on the Youth Employment UK website. The official launch was announced and the online hub went live for the first time at the BICSc Conference on 6 December. Leading BICSc campaign to encourage engagement is the institute’s Youth Ambassador and Technical Specialist Kelsey Hargreaves.

Kelsey said: “I wanted to help make significant changes to encourage younger people to join the cleaning industry to inspire the next generation to consider some of the many incredible careers in the cleaning industry by helping raise awareness.”

Having contacted Youth Employment UK, Kelsey embarked on its Youth Ambassador programme to see how she could help other young people which led to her taking part in webinars, results day outreach with students’ parents, speaking at industry conferences and exploring the opportunity to create a dedicated cleaning industry careers hub on the Youth Employment UK website https://www.youthemployment.org.uk/careers-hub-sector/cleaning-industry-careers-bicsc/

Kelsey said: “It’s been fantastic to help make the cleaning industry, and its opportunities, much more accessible to young people and I’ve even spoken in Parliament on the matter. I am incredibly proud of what we’ve achieved so far. It is amazing BICSc has provided the funding for the online hub that will become a dedicated website which will be accessed by millions of young people each year. It explains the steps of how to get into a career in the cleaning industry. 

“I wanted to break down the barriers and provide people with a step by step guide to different parts of our industry and let people know there are so many exciting careers options. I have explored every avenue across different sectors to focus on ways to get young people involved in the industry. I spoke at the APPG for Youth Employment on Mental Health and helped with schools outreach activities. I am so proud of what we’ve achieved and our one stop job shop on the Youth Employment UK website will help so many young people reach their potential. 

“The newly launched comprehensive careers hub covers a range of topics including training options, case studies, work experience opportunities, alongside videos of young people already working within the industry who explain their job role, how they got into the industry and what they love about their work. This is about pooling everything together for the good of the next generation.”

Youth Employment UK 

Founded in 2012 as a not for profit, Community Interest Company Youth Employment UK is the expert voice on Youth Employment. Its expertise is driven by: 

• Hundreds of employer members 
• The voices of millions of young people and those that support them 
• Policy insight, knowledge and connections.

Youth Employment UK is ideally placed to understand the complex employment landscape to support employers, young people and policy makers as we drive to full youth employment.

Long established BICSc is the largest independent professional and educational body within the cleaning industry with more than 60,000 members and over 23,000 courses completed in 2023 alone. BICSc group managing director, Neil Spencer-Cook, added: “BICSc continues to lead the industry with its innovative and pioneering approach and we were delighted to be able to dedicate the substantial investment to fund this incredibly important online option to help further engage with the younger generation. Kelsey and the team continue to strive to shine a spotlight on the many career opportunities there are within the cleaning community worldwide.”

Youth Employment UK Founder and CEO Laura-Jane Rawlings, said:  “We are always delighted to work with partners, like BICSc, to bring to life the world of work and highlight sectors for young people. This year’s Youth Voice Census highlighted the struggles young people are facing in confidence to navigate their next steps and understand all of the options available to them locally and nationally. They fear that employers are not supportive of hiring them, through the development of this careers hub and continuing our work to promote Good Youth Employment Standards throughout the sector we are showing them that careers in cleaning are youth friendly and a great place to grow their career.”

For more information about BICSc go to www.bics.org.uk or to access the Cleaning Industry Careers hub go to https://www.youthemployment.org.uk/careers-hub-sector/cleaning-industry-careers-bicsc/