News

The latest stories in this category from the City & Guilds Foundation and our networks.

Improving ex-offenders’ prospects through Groundwork’s ‘Green Start’ programme

Improving ex-offenders’ prospects through Groundwork’s ‘Green Start’ programme

Groundwork is a federation of charities mobilising practical community action on poverty and the environment across the UK. Dedicated to supporting communities and creating a green future, they aim to improve people’s prospects and promote opportunities for everyone, whatever their background or circumstances. As part of Groundwork’s commitment to enhancing opportunities for employability, back in 2021 they launched their ‘Green Start’ programme, in partnership with us at the City & Guilds...

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Celebrating skills development, in Prison, to support rehabilitation, on release

Celebrating skills development, in Prison, to support rehabilitation, on release

For nearly four years now we have endeavoured, through our Foundation, to identify and activate practical ways for offenders to build skills and gain a job upon release. Reoffending costs approximately £18.1bn every year in England, and evidence shows that upskilling prisoners to gain sustainable employment upon release, together with stable accommodation and support, is the most effective way to counter reoffending. As part of our Future Skills Commission for Prisons, we have now funded eight...

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IBM Bootcamps: Free Training for the Next Generation of Tech Talent

IBM Bootcamps: Free Training for the Next Generation of Tech Talent

IBM is offering a series of free bootcamps to help people develop the skills they need for in-demand tech jobs. The bootcamps are open to anyone, regardless of experience or background. What are the bootcamps about? The bootcamps cover a variety of topics, including: Data analytics IT tech support Front-end web development Each bootcamp is 10 weeks long and includes both online and in-person instruction. Learners will also have access to a community of mentors and coaches who can help them...

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Delivering Green Skills Training with Greenworkx and Catch22

Delivering Green Skills Training with Greenworkx and Catch22

The City & Guilds Foundation is pleased to announce two new partnerships with Greenworkx and Catch22 to deliver green skills training. The partnerships will provide training and support to help people from disadvantaged backgrounds develop the skills they need to work in the green economy. Greenworkx is a climate EdTech startup that is tackling the green skills emergency and building the net-zero workforce. Their mission is to get 10 million people into green jobs in 10 years. They are...

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Unlocking a Waiting Workforce: launching the refugee recruitment toolkit in partnership with The Launchpad Collective

Unlocking a Waiting Workforce: launching the refugee recruitment toolkit in partnership with The Launchpad Collective

There is a whole waiting workforce among our refugee population in the UK, yet many companies may not realise the benefits of hiring refugees as part of their recruitment strategy. That's why we've partnered with The Launchpad Collective to bring you an Employer Toolkit e-module called 'Unlocking a Waiting Workforce'. The Employer Toolkit is an engaging e-module created by Kineo that is designed to help businesses successfully hire and integrate people with refugee backgrounds into their...

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Celebrating our first carbon literacy training participants

Celebrating our first carbon literacy training participants

Between November and February, 28 colleagues across City & Guilds were invited to be involved in a pilot for Carbon Literacy Training and we are delighted that all have now received their Carbon Literacy accreditation. To be Carbon Literate means taking actionable steps towards tackling the climate emergency, feeling confident in communicating on this topic to our customers and stakeholders, and doing all that we can to mitigate the effects of climate change within our industry and...

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Heritage Crafts Awards 2023 now open

Heritage Crafts Awards 2023 now open

The Heritage Crafts Awards are now open with six brand new awards for 2023. The Awards, which have been running since 2012, celebrate and highlight the traditional living crafts that contribute to British heritage.  New Awards this year include a new Lifetime Achievement Award supported by the Marsh Christian Trust, to recognise a heritage craftsperson who has demonstrated an outstanding contribution to their specific craft over 25 years or more. The Award celebrates a lifetime’s dedication to...

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Commitment of big business proves vital to tackle reoffending

Commitment of big business proves vital to tackle reoffending

We were delighted to see the latest MOJ release that some of the UK’s biggest and most progressive companies have deepened their commitment to get people in prison into work on release, and that this has played a pivotal role in the rising numbers of prison leavers in employment 6 months after release - almost two thirds between April 2021 and March 2022, from 14 per cent to 23 per cent. According to government statistics, reoffending is reduced by up to nine percentage points for those who...

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Applications are open for the Young Learner Advisory Team

Applications are open for the Young Learner Advisory Team

As an organisation all about supporting skills development across a range of employment sectors, we want to hear what learners think and are searching for a team of six current, or recently qualified vocational learners to join the City & Guilds Learner Advisory Team. The newly formed Young Learner Advisory Team will become an extension of our Board of Trustees, with a key role of embedding experience and perspectives to enable a strong sense of the learner voice being at the heart of all...

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Supporting young carers in employment

Supporting young carers in employment

Young carers provide unpaid care and support to family members or friends who have a disability, illness, mental health condition, or substance misuse problem. According to our partners the Carers Trust there were 177,918 young carers in England and Wales at the last census and additionally there are 29,000 young carers in Scotland. However, this is widely believed to be the tip of the iceberg, with some estimates suggesting that as many as one in five schoolchildren are young carers...

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