Our networks | City & Guilds Foundation

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...

Shifting Skills

by Laura Mountain | 1 Oct 2020 | Awareness Raising, Critical transition points, Funding, Our networks

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....

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...

Recovery and Resilience report: reskilling our way back into work

by Laura Mountain | 21 Jul 2020 | City & Guilds initiatives, Critical transition points, News, Our networks

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%...

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

by Polly Rowe | 14 Jul 2020 | Charity partners, Critical transition points, Funding, News, Our networks

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...

Bridging the gap between employer and employee with MyKindaFuture’s Will Akerman

by Laura Mountain | 22 May 2020 | Awareness Raising, Case studies, Charity partners, News, Our networks

City & Guilds has been a strategic partner of MyKindaFuture for a long time. We’ve always been closely aligned with their belief that everyone should have equal power and opportunity to shape their future – wherever they come from, whatever their experience, and whoever they are. In particular, MyKindaFuture has focused on bridging the gap between employer and employee and helping them feel better connected and invested in each other. With businesses facing a huge variety of challenges...