PROJECT
Our Future and Smart Futures
PURPOSE
To equip disadvantaged 16- to 19-year-olds with employability skills and the confidence to go on to further education or jobs in the care sector
FUNDING
Funded as part of a partnership between the EY Foundation and CareTech Foundation, who are investing a total of £200,000 to support young people
BACKGROUND
The CareTech Foundation is an independent, grant-making foundation, founded by community services company CareTech to support and champion the social care sector. The EY Foundation, founded by professional services firm EY, is a charity that works with young people, employers and social entrepreneurs to develop routes into employment, enterprise or education.
The two charities came together in 2018 to launch a three-year partnership, which includes the Our Future and Smart Futures programmes. Both programmes had already been developed by the EY Foundation for other sectors, but were adapted for the new partnership. “CareTech wanted to address major issues in the care sector, such as the fact that young people don’t necessarily see it as an attractive career,” says Anu Atewologun, acting Midlands Hub leader at the EY Foundation. “Meanwhile, some of the young people we work with don’t necessarily have access to routes into higher education that others take for granted, and face barriers when entering employment.”
ACTION
Smart Futures is aimed at young people in year 12 or equivalent who have been eligible for free school meals, college bursaries or education maintenance allowance in the last two years. Young people eligible for Our Future must also have fewer than five GCSEs graded A to C, and additional risk factors such as exhibiting challenging behaviour at school.
The EY Foundation works with organisations in areas where programmes are planned in order to recruit students. They are recruited from schools and colleges and also from youth groups and pupil referral units for Our Future. EY Foundation staff go into the school or youth group to talk to eligible students about what the programme involves. Young people interested in taking part are supported to complete an online application form.
“We try to give them a real experience of working life, asking questions about their motivation, or a time when they have worked in a team,” says Atewologun. “What is great about the application form is it is not solely focused on their educational achievements. For example, we also ask about hobbies.”
The form is followed up by an interview, which is conducted over the phone for Smart Futures and face-to-face for Our Future. Successful applicants are then inducted into the EY Foundation “in the same way as any new joiner”, explains Atewologun. “They sign a contract, and get given a laptop for use at work, and an email address,” she says.
Both programmes include paid work experience in a CareTech care home, training, and one-to-one mentorship from a CareTech employee. All young people are paid a wage that is 40 per cent higher than the national minimum wage. Smart Futures is a 10-month programme including two weeks of paid work experience while Our Future is a six-month programme including a total of three weeks’ paid work experience. In the first week of work experience, young people take part in workshops where they are matched with their mentors, learn about the care sector and take part in activities designed to boost their employability and confidence. They also start working towards a Level 2 qualification in team leading, accredited by the Chartered Management Institute. In the second week they work in different teams within the care homes, including back office roles. “The students are dealing with vulnerable people, and this can be eye-opening for them – the fact they are given those responsibilities and are trusted to support these people when they might come from a background where they have not been trusted with things like that before,” says Atewologun.
Young people taking part in Smart Futures meet their mentors at least once a month while Our Future students meet mentors at least every fortnight. Mentors support the young people as they go into Year 13, helping them with decisions about university or training, supporting them to put together personal statements, CVs and applications, and helping them prepare for interviews.
Mentors undergo DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service) checks and do online training in child protection as well as a face-to-face training session with the EY Foundation. They get a handbook to record goals and personal development plans for young people, which also contains hints and tips. EY Foundation young people’s services team stays in touch with the mentors throughout the programme.
There are differences in the way the programme operates in different areas, says Atewologun. “In London the young people could just get on a tube to get to the care homes but in the Midlands the homes were more scattered so we needed to support the young people to work out the journey.”
OUTCOME
So far there have been two Our Future programmes in London and Birmingham, and a Smart Futures programme in Manchester. Every young person taking part has achieved a Level 2 qualification and all report increased skills and self-confidence.
Participants in the two programmes were surveyed before and six months afterwards and were asked to score their skills levels out of five. According to EY Foundation’s evaluation, average scores out of five for CV and application writing skills increased from 3 to 4.3 – a 43 per cent increase – while scores for interview technique increased 15 per cent from 3.4 to 3.9. Scores for business skills increased from 3.5 to 3.9 and scores for knowledge of the business world went up from 3.1 to 3.6.
WHAT’S NEXT?
There are plans for programmes in Newcastle and Scotland. “Beyond that, we are looking at developing a bespoke programme for young people who are care experienced, who face different barriers to employment and further education,” says Atewologun.
EXPERIENCE ‘People's lives are in your hands and they are vulnerable'
Seventeen-year-old Mitchelle signed up for the Our Future programme after the EY Foundation gave a presentation at her college for students from difficult backgrounds. Mitchelle likes taking care of people. “I look after my siblings and it’s just me and my dad,” she says. “I cook for them and do laundry as well as going to college.”
Mitchelle’s mentor was Julie Hainsworth, a CareTech locality manager. “I really wasn’t sure what to expect,” says Hainsworth. “I was aware most of the young people had faced challenging childhoods but didn’t know anything beyond that. As soon as I met Mitchelle, I wasn’t apprehensive at all. She’s a really bright and enthusiastic young woman, and I was delighted to be her mentor.”
The programme was Mitchelle’s first taste of work experience. “It’s been challenging and an eye opener into the real world,” she says. “I did not know there were so many disabilities. People’s lives are in your hands and they are vulnerable, and I’d never experienced that before.”
Mitchelle believes the skills she has learned will help her find employment. “I’m learning transferable skills I can use in other jobs,” she says. “After this I go back to college and have an assignment based on disabilities so this will be really helpful for that.”
Hainsworth has enjoyed seeing Mitchelle flourish. “When she went to her first placement, I know Mitchelle was nervous,” she says. “She hadn’t met people with such severe learning or physical difficulties before and she found it hard to begin with. With encouragement she quickly overcame these concerns and had an incredibly positive impact at the home. As a mentor, it was wonderful to witness Mitchelle grow and become more confident.”
