As David Miliband made clear earlier this week youth unemployment is at ‘crisis point’.

Our young people urgently need more opportunities.

That’s why last year, after yet another inspirational idea from my sister Margaret, I agreed to do something about it. And without a doubt it’s the single most rewarding campaign I have ever run.

Having been an MP nearly 15 years, I’ve forged contacts with hundreds of local businesses and charities.

So I thought: why not ask each of them if they would give an unemployed young person a few months’ work experience? They wouldn’t necessarily be paid, but they’d all learn new skills, and both sides could walk away at a day’s notice if they weren’t happy.

My biggest worry was that the Job Centre would interfere. Many employers are put off official schemes because of bureaucracy, forms, health and safety and so on.

But my local centre was great. As long as everyone was still looking for paid work they would play along. They wouldn’t trouble the provider, or stop the young person’s benefits – better still, they’d pay any travel costs!

So I wrote to every organisation I knew, inviting them to a breakfast meeting.

And much to my delight, dozens of organisations signed up, from B&Q to the local Chinese restaurant – including my favourite, Cosmopolitan magazine!

Each group filled out a form explaining what they were offering and how to apply, and I gathered all the information into a booklet, which the CWU agreed to print, while Asda said they’d pay the postage.

And for a week, my ‘stuffers’ – older members I call on to fill envelopes at elections – sent out thousands of brochures to every young person on the electoral register.

A local member who had just taken early retirement as a youth officer offered to give up Saturday mornings to mentor applicants, offering advice and helping with CVs.

And throughout last autumn, around 100 young people did placements.

Not all were a success. But most were.

Some got paid work almost straight away – including a young receptionist at a local five star hotel. Others discovered a vocation they never knew they had, including a young carer at a home for people with dementia.

Everyone has something valuable on their CV.

Finally, I invited all the scheme’s graduates and providers to a reception in the House of Commons. I persuaded the speaker, John Bercow, to hand out certificates, and a variety of MPs hosted tours of parliament. It was a special night!

All in all, I reckon my members – particularly the older ones – have been more proud of this campaign than anything I’ve done before.

And if every Labour MP did something similar, thousands of young people would have opportunities this government has denied them. And generations of friends and families will never forget.

As David Miliband says: ‘The crisis of youth unemployment can and must be tackled now. With action we can make a real difference across Britain.’ Trust me, he’s right.

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Siobhain McDonagh is MP for Mitcham and Morden