Critical Transition Points

There are points in all our lives where things get difficult, or the future feels unclear and we feel an unsettling lack of control.

For some people, these moments in time can make all the difference to their being able to remain economically active, or resorting to dangerous paths in order to keep afloat.

But with the right support, a successful transition can improve a person’s social, emotional and performance outcomes. Our current projects include helping young people living in areas facing high levels of deprivation to make the transition between school and college; helping women fleeing domestic violence to live and work independently; helping those recovering from addiction to gain employment.

This stream of work is wide ranging and we welcome any ideas on how we can help charities deliver high impact interventions.

The latest Critical Transition Point stories on the City & Guilds Foundation website:

The real impact of the pandemic on young people

The real impact of the pandemic on young people

by | 21 May 2021 | , , ,

This guest post is by Anna Kent, Communications Manager at Snow-Camp. Snow-Camp are the UK’s only charity using a combination of snowsports, life-skills training and mental wellbeing support to help young people from inner-city communities. Working at the indoor snow centres in London, the North West, the Midlands and Scotland, we also provide qualifications, work experience and volunteering opportunities to those who would never normally get the chance to access the snowsports industry. In...

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Supporting people and organisations through Covid-19

Supporting people and organisations through Covid-19

by | 22 Jan 2021 | , , , , ,

Earlier this year, the City & Guilds Foundation Committee approved £100k of funding to support organisations and individuals who are facing the fallout to their vital services / employment challenges due to Covid-19. Our purpose is all about helping people to develop their skills and our Foundation aims to remove barriers to getting a job, celebrate best practice on the job and to advocate for jobs of the future.  We have been working hard...

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An update on our bursary programme – providing access to the skills most needed, for those who need it most

An update on our bursary programme – providing access to the skills most needed, for those who need it most

by | 6 Oct 2020 | , , , , ,

Our bursary programme was designed to change people’s lives by allowing them to develop their skills. We know that, for some, the cost of training can be a huge barrier to getting the skills to find jobs and progress in their careers. Recent research indicates that without the support of funding, those hardest to reach will find it even harder to progress in a labour market which favours those already in higher-paying work. That’s why we set up the bursary programme in 2000 – to help people in...

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Free training for a job on the railways for local unemployed people

Free training for a job on the railways for local unemployed people

by | 2 Oct 2020 | , , , , ,

Local unemployed people are to be given free training leading to a job on the railway network on successful completion of the programme, as the region ramps up its Covid-19 recovery plans. The West Midlands Combined Authority has partnered with the City & Guilds Foundation to create a new training and jobs scheme, which will see 16 unemployed people gain the skills they need to help maintain the region’s rail lines. Funding for the training is being supplied by the City & Guilds...

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You can’t be what you can’t see: helping all girls find role models to succeed

You can’t be what you can’t see: helping all girls find role models to succeed

by | 1 Oct 2020 | , , , , , , ,

Conversations with professionals and experience in workplaces is the single most effective intervention at changing stereotypical expectations about future careers. Helping young people understand the job opportunities available to them is something we’re passionate about at the City & Guilds Foundation. That’s why we’re proud to support The Girls’ Network, a charity that matches female mentors from non-graduate pathways with girls from the least advantaged communities in the UK. So far,...

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Shifting Skills

Shifting Skills

by | 1 Oct 2020 | , , ,

There’s no doubt that coronavirus has hit the workforce hard; around 4 million people across the UK expected to be unemployed by the end of the year.  And our Recovery and Resilience research found that people in lower socio-economic groups are most at risk. Skills Bridges To help people without a job, or those working in sectors that are suffering from major cutbacks, City & Guilds has partnered with leading social learning platform FutureLearn to create a Skills Bridge programme....

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New skills fund to unlock £500m per year employment potential of UK prison population supporting efforts to rebuild after Covid

New skills fund to unlock £500m per year employment potential of UK prison population supporting efforts to rebuild after Covid

by | 22 Sep 2020 | , , , , ,

Unlocking the skills potential of the UK’s prison population could put £500million a year back into the economy in lowering reoffending rates alone[1], a much-needed boost as we seek to rebuild the economy following Covid, new analysis from the City & Guilds Foundation suggests. The findings come as City & Guilds, the leading skills development provider, launches an ambitious new Future Skills Commission for Prisons to use jobs and training to help divert prisoners from committing...

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Recovery and Resilience report: reskilling our way back into work

Recovery and Resilience report: reskilling our way back into work

by | 21 Jul 2020 | , , ,

The City & Guilds Group's most recent research Recovery and resilience: Reskilling our way back into work surveyed 2,000 working and non-working adults in the UK and found that people from lower socio-economic groups were less likely to believe that they have the support needed to get a new job in several critical areas: Using support from my personal contacts: 24% C2DE vs 35% ABC1 Using support from previous employer: 18% C2DE vs 28% ABC1 Using support from a recruitment consultant: 18%...

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Essential financial support now available for social enterprises through £18.7m Covid-19 grants

Essential financial support now available for social enterprises through £18.7m Covid-19 grants

by | 14 Jul 2020 | , , , ,

Here at the City & Guilds Foundation, we’re incredibly proud to support UnLtd – a leading provider of support to social entrepreneurs in and around the UK. Today, UnLtd have made an exciting announcement about a new Social Enterprise Support Fund. The Fund is directly responding to an urgent need in the sector to help social enterprises change the way they work, make their spaces COVID-secure, and manage liquidity during the next six months. There are five social enterprise support...

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