Skills development programme changes young lives
90% of participating young people now understand what they want to do for a career.
The Rio Ferdinand Foundation and The Guinness Partnership celebrate a year of creating opportunities for young people, following a successful 12 months of their skills and progression community programme. The programme, which benefits from the support of Construction Companies Wates and Kier, and Equans, was launched in March 2022 and has been well received by communities in Oldham, Salford, and the London Borough of Lambeth.
The skills-based initiative engages young people aged under 25 years old and living in a Guinness home in a six-month skills-based programme. The young people participate in a weekly schedule of activities to tackle youth unemployment, develop young people's skills, and raise aspirations.
Tailored around young people's interests, the Rio Ferdinand Foundation team creates opportunities for participants to participate in various weekly sessions with workshops delivered at community venues in photography, cooking, DJing, digital skills, and creative arts.
In addition to vocational workshops, a cornerstone of the partnership programme is employability workshops. The Rio Ferdinand Foundation team supports young people in writing CVs, applying for job opportunities, and getting funding to set up their businesses.
Kian aged 18, from London, was still thinking about his future career when he got involved in the programme. Kian participated in various employability.
initiatives with the team, exploring sports and creative pathways with the Foundation’s partners.
The programme helped Kian to realise that his passion was being part of his community’s creative projects. The Rio Ferdinand Foundation has now employed Kian to create a range of creative workshops to deliver to young people as part of year two of the Guinness programme. A personal development pathway of training and opportunities is being developed for him.
Kian will be a key player in the development of the partnership programme in year two and will soon deliver talks to students at his former school Evelyn Grace Academy, hoping to inspire other young people as in Kian’s words: “I want to give other kids hope as you gave me hope.”
“I grew up in an area where opportunity didn’t come easy, money wasn’t easy, crime was high, but I could transcend and grow because of opportunities like the Guinness programme.” “I was a bit shy, very naive, and I thought I could do it alone when humans don’t work that way; we need each other to grow and develop.”
The free training and mentoring programme offered by The Guinness Partnership aims to support young people like Kian to take their first steps into the music, sport, tech, and construction industries. 85% of young people who signed up have completed the programmes and are now taking part in accredited training through the Open College Network Youth Leadership Award, with 35 young people receiving employment-based support and mentoring.
Matthew, aged 19, from Royton, Oldham, completed the programme and then was supported to apply to the Guinness Aspire Awards to request funding to purchase camera and lighting equipment to help him start a small local photography business.
“This has been an amazing opportunity and has given me a chance to get back on the right path. I know what I want to do now and can’t wait to start. This programme has helped me hugely, and I would recommend that other people in my position get involved with it in the future.”
The aspiration-raising programme has achieved a 90% increase in participant health and well-being, giving participants the confidence to explore opportunities. 100% reported feeling more confident since the start of the programme, with many pursuing opportunities with local businesses and Rio Ferdinand Foundation partners Warner Music, Kiss FM, The Jockey Club, and the Gym Group.
Year two of the partnership programme will be entirely youth-led and will see The Guinness Partnership and Rio Ferdinand Foundation initiative extend further across Greater Manchester and into the London Boroughs of Southwark and Lambeth.
“The Rio Ferdinand Foundation is committed to working with young people at the heart of their communities to offer support, training, and opportunities to those that need it. Housing providers are a key part of communities and can help embed our work in a wider structure of support for their tenants and the residents in their areas. As such the opportunity to engage with the Guinness Partnership has provided a great boost to our reach and our work in both Greater Manchester and Lambeth.”
The examples of Kian and Matthew and their journeys through this programme show what can happen when youth services, housing providers and employers come together to support young people. This first year has provided us with much success and learning to take into the next stage of our partnership and we look forward to seeing the results in the coming year.”
“We are delighted that the first year of our partnership with the Rio Ferdinand Foundation has been such a great success. The programme has helped create opportunities for young people to improve their lives, and to help them progress along their chosen career path. We look forward to continuing to work with all of our partners, to achieve even greater success in the future.”