As fundraising recruitment specialists we've been thinking this over recently, and not just because we're familiar with so many charities involved in tackling youth issues, such as the Prince's Trust, Street League, Elevation Networks and The Creative Society.

In the UK its estimated that more than 15% of the youth population aren't in education, employment or training. While its estimated by the Prince's Trust that youth unemployment costs the UK economy £10 million a day alongside youth crime costs standing at around £1 billion per year. Its also been suggested that another important result of youth unemployment is the effect that this has on young people themselves, with people feeling unmotivated and lacking in confidence. With these statistics and with a record number of people applying for jobs, its not surprising that that young people are feeling the pressure.

So how can young people get into work? Although there are many routes into work which are being championed and run by many great charities (such as into work programmes, training, placements, apprenticeships, application/interview/CV assistance, sport, and business support and entrepreneurship), we are most knowledgeable on one route which is via the relatively modern institution - and that's the internship.

Internships are a great way to get experience in the workplace, because how many times have you read a person specification for a role only to find out you need so many years' experience? No, they may not be a full time role, but they're certainly a great step towards one. Many charities offer internships in various areas such as finance, marketing and events and fundraising so if you're looking to get a job in one of these areas then its certainly worth starting with the charity as an intern. Who knows, its not unusual for interns to be offered a role at the end of the internship - now that's what you call an opportunity.

At Bruce Tait Associates we have our very own Charity Career Start Internships where we place an intern into a charity to help the charity in one of it's departments and also to give the intern a great opportunity to get some experience from some of the best people in the sector. Our programme was (and continues to be) a great success in 2012 and over 30 people were on placement with Scottish charities through the programme last year. Some of them were even taken on in permanent roles! Amongst all the benefits of a charity internship, charities especially are filled with people who can also act as excellent mentors to young people and this combined with the practical side of an internship can give a great boost to an intern, building up their confidence and drive to succeed.

As Bruce wrote in his article at this time last year:

"I've been delighted recently to see a handful of Scottish charities recruiting entry-level fundraising posts. Don't underestimate how much a young person can offer a charity, particularly in the fundraising field. For a start they know how social media works, are computer literate to a high level and tend to be very quick at learning things. They are also brave and challenging and it's in those two areas that fundraising can get very, very interesting. There is a lot to be said for doing things the way that they have been done before, by my experience is that excellence in fundraising often involves risk-taking, innovation and challenging the perceived wisdom."

There are so many benefits to taking on young people in the sector - and we think its certainly one of many fantastic ways to tackle youth unemployment.