#InvestInYoungTalent and empower young livesfind your future workforceboost social mobilityfutureproof your business

Empower young lives, find your future workforce and boost social mobility

Those from less advantaged backgrounds are less likely to enter further and higher education, secure professional jobs, and receive higher earnings.

For nearly 20 years we’ve worked in partnership with employers across the UK to change this.

Find out how you can get involved:

Fill in our short online form

We’ll be in touch to discuss how we can partner together to #InvestInYoungTalent

Connect with young talent across the UK and help them to kickstart a rewarding future

We provide support and insights into the life-changing impact you’re making to young lives

Our simple process

Fill in our short online form

We’ll be in touch to discuss how we can partner together to #InvestInYoungTalent

Connect with young talent across the UK and help them to kickstart a rewarding future

We provide support and insights into the life-changing impact you’re making to young lives

Build a partnership that changes lives

Those from less advantaged backgrounds are less likely to enter further and higher education, secure professional jobs, and receive higher earnings. For nearly 20 years we’ve worked in partnership with employers across the UK to change this.

Whether you’re a large or small employer, we have the power to build a partnership which unlocks young talent, boosts social mobility, and adds real value to your workplace. Here are just some of the ways your business can support young talent:

Paid internships

Research shows that our facilitated paid internships are an effective way for employers to boost social mobility, connect with young talent, and future-proof their business. In Scotland each mentoring relationships comes with the commitment of a paid internship.

Find out more

Mentoring

Mentoring is a great volunteering opportunity for your team to provide life-changing support and insight to young people at a key stage of their education and employment journey. In Scotland, we ask that each mentoring relationship is matched with an internship.

Find out more

Skills masterclasses

Whether it’s a one-off, once a year or more regular activity, masterclasses are a fun and engaging opportunity for your team to help young people develop new skills and become inspired about your sector and company.

Find out more

Workplace visits

Workplace visits are an inspiring and time-sensitive way for you to help young people. It’s often the first time our students have entered a workplace and it’s an experience that can have a deep effect on them. Hearing their reactions to your familiar day-to-day environment can also make you see your own business in a new light.

Find out more

Employee funding

Fundraising is a great way to boost morale and help us to grow our work to ensure more young people receive life changing support and opportunities.

Find out more

Pro-bono support

We welcome the opportunity to create bespoke partnerships with employers. Whether it’s digital development or PR, if you think you could help our growth, we’d love to work with you.

Get in touch

The impact of our partnerships

Research shows that our partnerships empower young people, boost social mobility, and add real business value to employers through:

Talent pipelines
Diversity and inclusion
Employee engagement and upskilling
Environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG)
Brand awareness

From one GCSE to a first-class degree, that’s my story. I don’t know where I’d be in life if it wasn’t for my internship at Citi.

Daniel Clarke
Intern at Citi

“Having talented young people from the Career Ready programme around to contribute to a range of different projects has led to real change in our office.”

Sally Dillon, Optimisation Lead, Finance Operations, Aviva

“We’ve hosted more than 70 Career Ready interns and have recruited over 30 of them to full-time roles, saving us over £120,000 in recruitment costs.”

Rob Hawkins, Head of Division, Private Clients, St James’s Place Wealth Management

“Having the opportunity to volunteer and see your company make an active investment gives people a boost, it gives people purpose. They respect the company’s commitment.”

Wojciech Ilowski, Industry Operations Leader, Marsh

“Career Ready is a great way to help our junior staff develop the skills needed to become managers, and it provides the opportunity to see what potential team leaders I’ve got.”

Nancy Flint, Head of EMEA Corporate Access, Citi Group

“I’m so proud of the partnership that Aviva has with Career Ready, giving opportunity for many people across the organisation to volunteer and work with young people. Our community of volunteers help them as they begin their journey into the world of work, enabling them to find direction, purpose and to unlock their potential.”

Rachel Glaze, UK Resourcing Lead, Aviva

We are proud to be working in collaboration with Career Ready to raise awareness of the Real Estate industry and the career opportunities it offers. Savills are committed to working with this phenomenal charity and the talented young people they champion, who have faced barriers to education, employment and training. Career Ready provides a great platform to connect with students through initiatives including mentoring, internships, school masterclasses, workplace visits and office and school partnerships.

Richard Rees & Emily Colquhoun, Managing Director / Career Ready Project Lead, Savills

Bupa is a place that celebrates people and their careers. It’s not about where you’ve been, it’s about where you’re going. By offering paid internships to year 12 students, we’re able to offer young people vital work experience – enabling Career Ready students to stand out from the crowd when they apply for apprenticeships, graduate schemes or entry level roles in the future.

Jess Albone, ESG Communications Manager, Bupa

of alumni are in full-time education or employment

of employers would hire their Career Ready intern. given the opportunity.

of volunteers experienced a positive impact on their skills, wellbeing, or work life

I’m excited to help shape the future of Career Ready

I’m excited to help shape the future of Career Ready

We should each be empowered to achieve our potential

We should each be empowered to achieve our potential

How Career Ready helped me get to Cambridge University

How Career Ready helped me get to Cambridge University

If you are unsure about how we can help, fill in the form at the bottom of this page and a member of the team will be in touch to discuss opportunities.

Get in touch

Our award winning partnerships

We’ve partnered with hundreds of employers of all sizes across the UK. We were shortlisted at the 2020 and 2021 Charity Times Awards for ‘Charity of the Year’ and won ‘Corporate Partnership of the Year’ in 2020 for our work with Citi.

Discover more about some of our existing employer partners and how we’ve transformed young lives and added real value to their businesses.

Citi

Our partnership with Citi Bank started in 2002 and has helped us to transform the lives of thousands of young people across the UK through mentors, paid internships, masterclasses, local advisory board members, and financial support.

Read more

Foxtons

Foxtons was our first residential estate agency partner and have helped us to raise valuable funding as well as providing paid internships, mentoring, masterclasses and experience days to young talent.

Read more

Aviva

Our partnership with Aviva began in 2013 in Glasgow and Perth, Scotland. Since then, Aviva’s support has grown to help enable our work across the UK in London, York, Bristol and Sheffield.

Read more

How we support our partners

We provide a variety of support for our partners so they have everything they need to support the programme and boost social mobility. This can include:

Data impact reporting

We provide insights into the life-changing impact you’re making to young lives, as well as how we’re adding business value to your organisation.

Local delivery manager

We work in 101 Local Authorities, from Essex to Elgin. Our local delivery managers will work closely with you to ensure effective programme delivery.

Volunteer journey

We provide ongoing volunteer support, including training, safeguarding, DBS/PVG support, communications, and tailored programme delivery materials.

Let’s get started…

Fill in the form and we’ll be in touch to discuss opportunities for your business. #InvestInYoungTalent

Let’s get started…

Fill in the form and we’ll be in touch to discuss opportunities for your business.

#InvestInYoungTalent

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What students do you support?

Our Career Ready programme supports young people aged 16-18 who are in education (15-18 in Scotland)

As a social mobility charity we work with schools, colleges and young people who, research shows, face barriers in education and employment which cause their talents to often go undiscovered and unfulfilled.

We support those who need a platform to reach their potential, working with young people who meet a combination of criteria, including the following:

Eligible for Free School Meals in the past six years
Eligible for Educational Maintenance Allowance
Parental occupation indicating lack of access to professional networks and/or low household income
No parental history of higher education
Physical, mental or learning disability
Experience of Local Authority care and/or estranged from family
Caring responsibilities

Where do you work?

We work in 101 Local Authorities across the UK, from Essex to Elgin, prioritising areas which research shows need our support the most.

To ensure that we support the young people, schools & colleges, and areas who need our support the most, we’re guided by Government data on Indices of Multiple Deprivation and the Careers & Enterprise Company’s Cold Spot framework. Meaning that we work in:

33/50 of the most disadvantaged Local Authorities in England, identified by English Index of Multiple Deprivation
6/9 Scottish Attainment Challenge Local Authorities.
54% of Scotland’s Local Authorities with the highest levels of deprivation, as identified by the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation
59% of Cold Spot Local Authorities, identified by the Careers & Enterprise Company
31% of our school & college partners are located in the 50 most disadvantaged Local Authorities

Find out more.

Does my business have to provide paid internships?

Nothing has the same potential to transform young lives and boost social mobility as paid internships.

We therefore ask that each of our partner employers works with us to provide these life-changing experiences. We appreciate that this may not be suitable for all business environments, so we welcome the opportunity to discuss how else we can work together to deliver and grow our work across the UK.

In Scotland, we ask that every partner employer works with us to provide a mentor and a paid internship within their company.

I'm an SME, how can I get involved?

We’ve worked with micro, small, and medium employers for nearly 20 years to deliver paid internships, mentoring, masterclasses, and workplace visits.

With employers finding that it quickly adds value to their business, team, and culture.

And our facilitated sessions and support mean that it’s an efficient and effective way of transforming young lives and future-proofing your business.

Was your question answered? If not, submit a suggestion below for future FAQs.

#InvestInYoungTalent and empower young livesfind your future workforceboost social mobilityfutureproof your business

Empower young lives, find your future workforce and boost social mobility

Our simple process

Build a partnership that changes lives