News | City & Guilds Foundation

From prison to lockdown: how to make peer-mentoring work in the crisis

by Laura Mountain | 6 Oct 2020 | Charity partners, Funding, News, Our networks, Prisoners and ex-offenders

The best ideas are born out of necessity, and for St Giles that was finding a way to deliver the Peer Advisor programme during Covid-19. The programme trains people with lived experience of social exclusion, including many prisoners and prison-leavers, to become Level 3 qualified Peer Advisors who then go on to support others from similar backgrounds. It plays a significant role in helping people overcome barriers and move towards employment; research from Cranfield University found that...

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

by Polly Rowe | 6 Oct 2020 | Bursaries, City & Guilds initiatives, Critical transition points, Funding, News, Our networks

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...

Bringing employability into the classroom

by Lauren Roberts | 5 Oct 2020 | Awareness Raising, Campaigning, Charity partners, News, Our networks, Youth engagement

Our youth engagement work aims to take a practical approach in informing and helping young people, especially those at risk of becoming NEET, to make more informed choices about their future. One of the biggest barriers young people face when entering the world of work is adapting and settling into a working environment. By giving students the chance to meet employers while still in the classroom setting, we aim to bridge the gap between schools providing support for academic success and...

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

by Stuart Tucker | 2 Oct 2020 | Bursaries, City & Guilds initiatives, Critical transition points, Funding, News, Our networks

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...

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

by Julia Bena | 1 Oct 2020 | Awareness Raising, Campaigning, Charity partners, Critical transition points, Funding, News, Our networks, Youth engagement

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,...

Outstanding careers – City & Guilds as a golden thread

by Joanna Najjar | 1 Oct 2020 | News, Our networks, President's Award, Prince Philip Medal

Prince Philip Medal… and the medallist is Craig Thomson This award inaugurated by HRH The Duke of Edinburgh back in 1962 recognises an individual who has followed the City & Guilds path and has achieved significant success in their field or profession. This year we are delighted to recognise the career of Craig Thomson FCGI, Director, HMP Kilmarnock. Craig started his career journey over 30 years ago with a City & Guilds Prison Officer/Custodial Care qualification. Since then he...

Interview with… Damien McKnight

by Michael Osbaldeston | 30 Sep 2020 | Awards alumni, Case studies, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, News, Our networks

‘Michael! We haven’t had our letter, were we successful?’ Deep intake of breath… this is the call you don’t want to take. ‘We didn’t did we? And I know why - too soon and not enough evidence!’ And from that very perceptive response by Damien McKnight, Training Apprenticeship & Development Manager at Dovecote Park evolved two future very successful applications in 2018 and 2020 for recognition through the Princess Royal...

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

by Laura Mountain | 22 Sep 2020 | Critical transition points, Funding, Future Skills Commission for Prisons, News, Our networks, Prisoners and ex-offenders

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...

Junior Smart: Meaningful work will keep ex-offenders like me out of prison

by Laura Mountain | 21 Sep 2020 | Case studies, Future Skills Commission for Prisons, News, Our networks, Prisoners and ex-offenders

The Foundation’s Big Idea Fund wants to experiment, to find out what really works so that it can be scaled up and used elsewhere. It is going out to brilliant charities and innovative prison projects that want to partner up and find practical solutions to one of our society’s biggest problems. I believe a big idea like this has never been needed more. View this post on Instagram Meaningful work will keep ex-offenders like me out of prison, writes Junior Smart a member of our Future...

The Clink charity launches Clink@Home takeaway / delivery service

by Stuart Tucker | 20 Aug 2020 | Charity partners, Future Skills Commission for Prisons, News, Our networks, Prisoners and ex-offenders

The Clink Charity has launched a takeaway / delivery service at HMP Brixton called Clink@Home. This has enabled The Clink to keep the restaurant open during lockdown, keeping prisoners employed and allowing them to continue studying towards their qualifications. Great @BBCNews feature showing the impact @TheClinkCharity has on reducing re-offending. If you live within 5 miles of @HMP_Brixton please support #ClinkAtHome - you'll be helping prisoners to continue studying towards their...