News & events | City & Guilds Foundation

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

by Stuart Tucker | 17 Apr 2023 | Awareness Raising, Charity partners, News, Refugee support, Resources

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...

Foundation Spring Newsletter 2023: Removing barriers and creating inclusive cultures

by Mike Ormand | 6 Apr 2023 | Newsletter

In our Spring 2023 newsletter we launch our Neurodiversity Index, share how we are supporting UK youth into meaningful employment and more.

Celebrating our first carbon literacy training participants

by Julia Bena | 29 Mar 2023 | Awareness Raising, Campaigning, City & Guilds initiatives, News, News & events

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...

Heritage Crafts Awards 2023 now open

by Stuart Tucker | 27 Mar 2023 | Awards, Campaigning, Charity partners, Heritage crafts, News

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...

Commitment of big business proves vital to tackle reoffending

by Faiza Khan MBE | 24 Mar 2023 | Funding, Future Skills Commission for Prisons, News, News & events, Prisoners and ex-offenders

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...

Applications are open for the Young Learner Advisory Team

by Lauren Roberts | 21 Mar 2023 | News, News & events, Our networks

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...

Supporting young carers in employment

by Lauren Roberts | 15 Mar 2023 | Awareness Raising, Campaigning, Charity partners, Events, Lived Experience, News, Youth engagement

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...

Applications for Cockpit September intake now open including six funded places

by Stuart Tucker | 13 Mar 2023 | Bursaries, Charity partners, Heritage crafts, News, Our networks

For over 30 years, Cockpit has provided funded and subsidised studio spaces for talented craftspeople in London, along with in-house business support and coaching. Applications are now open for our September intake, with a number of funded places you can apply for listed below. The deadline for applications is 11th April. The Radcliffe Emerging Maker Award is for a maker from any craft discipline who has already reached a level of excellence in skill and is looking to take their practice to...

Launching our Neurodiversity Index report

by Jennifer Warner | 10 Mar 2023 | Awareness Raising, Campaigning, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Neurodiversity, News

Back in 2019 the City & Guilds Foundation was established to really amplify City & Guilds’ purpose and particularly focus on supporting individuals who face significant barriers in developing their skills. Over the past 3 years we have supported a range of people including Prisoners, ex-offenders, care leavers, refugees and young people at risk of becoming NEET. What was becoming more and more obvious when we were talking to some of our charity partners in these spaces was the common...

City & Guilds Foundation funds Breakthrough to support prison leavers into apprenticeships in innovative new partnership

by Polly Rowe | 8 Feb 2023 | Campaigning, News, Prisoners and ex-offenders

The City & Guilds Foundation and Breakthrough, the UK’s first apprenticeship provider to recruit directly from prisons, have entered a new partnership to support prison leavers into employment. Founded in March 2020, Breakthrough was the first charity to focus on delivering pre-apprenticeship training in prison and technology apprenticeships on release. And for the first time, from October 2022 the government has allowed prisoners to start apprenticeships in prison – this could be...