Social investment

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

Lasting relationships, lasting impact

Lasting relationships, lasting impact

by | 28 Oct 2021 | , ,

Our bursary programme was set up 21 years ago to help people in genuine financial need to access training programmes. The programme was designed to change people's lives by allowing them to develop their skills - and to this day it remains a core programme of the Foundation. Last year we launched our bursary alumni, bringing together individuals who had been awarded a bursary since 2016 and wish to share their stories and inspire others. One of the most rewarding elements of the...

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Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust (QEST) Applications for funding opening 12 July 2021

Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust (QEST) Applications for funding opening 12 July 2021

by | 30 Jun 2021 | ,

We are delighted to announce that our friends at the Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust will be accepting new applications for funding between 12 July and 16 August 2021. Talented and aspiring candidates can apply for up to £18,000 to further their education through traditional college courses, vocational training, apprenticeships or one-to-one training with master craftsmen. The Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust (QEST) awards scholarship and apprenticeship funding of up to £18,000 to talented...

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New bursary launched to help Londoners get back into work

New bursary launched to help Londoners get back into work

by | 21 May 2021 | , ,

Created in response to the impact of the pandemic on London’s labour market, the new £50K London Bursary Skills fund aims to remove barriers to help Londoners quickly upskill and find work Today, the City & Guilds Foundation – part of skills organisation City & Guilds Group –  has launched a new London Bursary skills fund of £50,000, aimed at helping those who need it most across the capital get the skills they need, fast. Set up in response to the serious impact of the...

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Announcing Clink Kitchens

Announcing Clink Kitchens

by | 23 Mar 2021 | , ,

Long term City & Guilds partner Clink Restaurant Charity announces the launch of Clink Kitchens, bringing new training opportunities to thousands of prisoners across 70 facilities We’re delighted to congratulate the Clink on the recent announcement that they will be launching their Clink Kitchens scheme, offering training, culminating in a City & Guilds qualification, across 70 prisons across the UK. Over the next three years this scheme will allow offenders to complete their level 2...

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Support for a green start

Support for a green start

by | 27 Jan 2021 | ,

As has often been said of late, we’re facing unprecedented challenges as a nation. Those challenges are many and significant – global economic trends, a changing climate and now an unforgiving pandemic. All of these forces impact first and worst on those in our society who have least, adding to the structural inequalities that have been affecting parts of our country for decades. Supporting those who need it most Groundwork was established 40 years ago to help drive change in communities...

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Supporting people and organisations through Covid-19

Supporting people and organisations through Covid-19

by | 22 Jan 2021 | ,

Earlier this year, the City & Guilds Foundation Committee approved £100k of funding to support organisations and individuals who are facing the fallout to their vital services / employment challenges due to Covid-19. Our purpose is all about helping people to develop their skills and our Foundation aims to remove barriers to getting a job, celebrate best practice on the job and to advocate for jobs of the future.  We have been working hard...

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Interview with Change Grow Live’s Laura Shurrock

Interview with Change Grow Live’s Laura Shurrock

by | 15 Oct 2020 | , , ,

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...

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

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

by | 6 Oct 2020 | ,

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...

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

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

by | 6 Oct 2020 | , ,

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...

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

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

by | 2 Oct 2020 | , , ,

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...

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