News | City & Guilds Foundation

New Year’s Honours: extraordinary people in our network

by Joanna Najjar | 19 Jan 2021 | Awards alumni, Fellowship Network, News

It was great to see so many individuals in the further education and skills development sectors in the New Year's Honours lists! Even better was to see some of the leaders of the organisations we work with being recognised. Congratulations to Peter Taylor, City & Guilds of London Institute Fellow, Member of Council and Princess Royal Training Awards alumnus. Peter was awarded an MBE for services to the jewellery and silversmithing industry. Peter has a long standing relationship with City...

Supporting vulnerable young people to access learning

by Lauren Roberts | 15 Jan 2021 | Awareness Raising, Campaigning, Digital poverty, News, Youth engagement

The City & Guilds Foundation is acutely aware of the challenges facing learners at all levels across the UK, including the many learners who receive support from our charitable partners or directly through the Foundation’s bursary programme. We applaud efforts being made by the UK Government and charities across the country to make the hardware necessary for online learning available to those in need, this support must continue to be rolled out with utmost urgency if we are to...

It’s time to act on digital exclusion

by Lauren Roberts | 4 Dec 2020 | Awareness Raising, Charity partners, Digital poverty, News, Youth engagement

Last month I was invited to speak at the Apprenticeship Diversity & Social Mobility Forum, which aims to bring together leading figures in diversity and inclusion, and experts on social mobility. The series of three annual events was organised by one of our newest partners, the BAME Apprenticeships Alliance, a community of organisations who support diversity in the workplace through policy and advocacy. The...

Interview with Change Grow Live’s Laura Shurrock

by Polly Rowe | 15 Oct 2020 | Charity partners, Funding, News, Our networks, Prisoners and ex-offenders, Youth engagement

We recently caught up with Laura Shurrock, Mentoring Support Officer at Change Grow Live, a charity we have been supporting since 2018 with a three-year grant. Change Grow Live’s mission is to help people change the direction of their lives, grow as individuals, and live life to its full potential. Our funding supports Change Grow Live's project in partnership with Birmingham Youth Offending Service and the West Midlands Police, which helps young people in the community who are at risk of...

Our network is growing: welcome to our new Fellows

by Julia Bena | 9 Oct 2020 | Fellowship Awards, Fellowship Network, News, Our networks

We are thrilled to be able to celebrate the contributions of those who passionately advocate for technical, vocational and lifelong education. Fellowship of the City & Guilds of London Institute is a prestigious honour, recognising individuals who have demonstrated outstanding professional and personal achievements in skills development and workplace training. Welcome to the new Fellows who are joining the network in 2020. We hope to be able to celebrate with you all in the near future!...

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,...