ThinkForward UK

Thank you to Impetus - Backing the best for inviting our Communications & Policy Manager Jo Pike to speak at their Comms forum today to share our asset-based language guide and the process of how we created it. It was a really great session with lots of useful insights shared from Lee Elliot-Major OBE and Tutor Trust - Equity in education. Our asset-based language guide outlines our commitment to using strength-based language to talk to and about the young people we work with at ThinkForward and why this is important. You can read it here: https://lnkd.in/dXRgQV2y

Since 2020, Colyer Fergusson Charitable Trust has supported over 120 ThinkForward young people in Kent with hardship grants, providing 21 new grants in the last year alone. The grants have been used for a variety of purchases, including academic supplies, extracurricular classes, driving lessons and equipment. Some young people have used the grants to develop their own businesses. For example, one young person used his grant to buy his own plastering equipment. This allowed him to take on private clients and start growing his business. Another young person from Dover was studying music at college when she received a grant. Her £400 grant enabled her to buy music equipment to build a mini home studio, and this made a big difference to her school career - she became more involved with different roles at college and felt confident fully immersing herself in her music studies. Coach Ben said that the hardship fund has benefited a number of his young people. He cited one case where a young person was finding it challenging to regulate their emotions. They were getting frustrated and didn’t have strong coping mechanisms for dealing with their feelings. This young person went to a free taster boxing session and found that it improved their mood, so a £350 grant was used to buy 6 months of boxing classes for them. These classes are continuing to help the young person in developing healthy methods to manage their emotions. We would like to say a massive thank you to Colyer Fergusson Charitable Trust for their on-going support for our young people in Kent. #ColyerFergussonCharitableTrust #Kent #Medway #YoungPeople

This year, we were delighted to start a new business mentoring partnership with Swiss RE. Over 6 sessions, volunteers from Swiss RE mentored a group of Year 10 students from one of our London schools. The mentors supported our young people to improve their work readiness and reflect on their skills. One young person said, “Working with Swiss RE helped me see work life and the adult world. I feel confident talking to different staff and I bring myself to their level, I don't use any slang. It's helped me speak more formally”. A mentor from Swiss RE also said, “It was great working with the young people… Being someone in my early 50's, I wasn't sure how the young people attending would relate to me, however during the programme we did some cool activities - we helped develop their CV and practice interview techniques, as well as helping them with the transition from school to work.” A huge thank you to the wonderful volunteers from Swiss RE! #businessmentoring #thankyouvolunteers

We’re #hiring a FutureMe Progression Coach in London! If you're passionate about supporting young people to achieve their goals, we have the perfect role for you! 💡 If you: - have experience working directly with young people - can manage successful relationships with both internal and external partners - are confident in maintaining high levels of safeguarding - have an understanding of the complex barriers that young people face and knowledge of careers and employment IAG ... then please click here to apply: https://lnkd.in/dRfgQvj #jobs #charityjobs #youthsector #youthemployment #coaching #islingtonjobs #islington #londonjobs

Young people in #Kent have been working on a peer research project, funded by The Blagrave Trust. The young people designed and conducted a survey to investigate barriers to youth employment in Kent. We are delighted that these young people will be hosting a roundtable event next week to share their findings from the project. They will also be inviting attendees to add further to the discussion and help them create new calls to action that support young people in accessing the employment market in Kent. If you would like more information about attending the roundtable on Monday 1st July in Maidstone, please contact mark.chase@thinkforward.org.uk

Recently, post-16 young people on our FutureMe programme in London and Kent attended an insight day at Coutts The event was held in celebration of #SocialMobilityDay. Young people enjoyed a panel talk about socioeconomic diversity and a tour of the bank - including the roof garden! The day ended with a careers fair hosted by volunteers from Coutts. One young person said, “I found this event extremely exciting and eye opening. Although I didn't know what to expect and how I'd feel about this type of job role, it has really opened my eyes to different opportunities in life." A huge thanks to the wonderful Coutts volunteers who made the day so special. #readyforwork #insightday #coutts

Congratulations to the DFN CHARITABLE FOUNDATION on celebrating 10 years of impactful work in education, employability, healthcare, and conservation! Our CEO, Ashley McCaul, and Head of Supported Employment Programmes. Vincenza De Falco (She/Her)were honoured to attend the celebratory event last week, commemorating this milestone alongside David Forbes-Nixon OBE and so many dedicated partners and supporters. Our collaboration since 2017, particularly through our DFN-MoveForward programme, has yielded remarkable outcomes. With over 90 participants benefiting from Supported Internships, our graduates have achieved a 46% employment rate, nearly 10 times higher than the government's average of 4.8%. Notably, the programme has generated £5 million in social value, delivering a return of £3.22 for every £1 invested. As we reflect on these successes, we eagerly anticipate the Foundation's future achievements and the prospect of continued collaboration. We'd also like to extend a heartfelt thanks to departing CEO Claire Cookson and wish her well as she moves into her new role. We look forward to many more years of making a positive difference in the space together. #DFNCharitableFoundation #ImpactfulCollaboration #employmentforall #youthemployment

We’re #hiring a Senior Development Officer! 💡 We're looking for someone to support us to achieve ambitious growth targets and deliver on our mission to support young people on their paths to a brighter future. If you have: - experience in securing income from a variety of sources, in particular grant-making trusts, corporate partnerships or high-net worth individuals - strong writing skills - an interest in ThinkForward’s work and the challenges facing young people - excellent interpersonal and networking skills ... then please click here to apply: https://lnkd.in/dRfgQvj #charityjobs #fundraisingjobs #nonprofitjobs #youthsector

We are excited to begin a new partnership with Finatal. We’re delighted that Finatal will be hosting our first insight day for young women on our new project funded by CITYBRIDGE FOUNDATION. This project offers extra support for young women on our FutureMe programme in London, providing gender-based coaching, work insight days and mentoring opportunities from professional women. During the insight day, young women will meet professional women from Finatal, who will explain how to use LinkedIn. They will also take professional headshots of each young person, so they can start to build their own LinkedIn profile. We would also like to say a huge thank you to Finatal for their recent donation, which will help us reach even more young people. We’re really looking forward to working together to support young people to realise and achieve their career aspirations. #Finatal #youthemployment #youthempowerment

This week is #LearningDisabilityWeek🎉🎉. To celebrate, we held a digital skills workshop for alumni from our DFN-MoveForward programme. The programme supported young people with learning disabilities on their journeys to sustained employment. At the workshop, our alumni were introduced to the website Canva. They reflected on the concept of brand image, and had a go at creating their own Instagram posts in line with the ThinkForward brand guidelines. The theme of Learning Disability Week this year is “Do you see me?”. This theme encouraged us to reflect on how we recognise the skills and strengths that people with learning disabilities have. 👁️🗨️🗣️Our young people said… “Being seen is being seen as a human” “Being seen is being respected” “My autism makes me very clever” “Being seen is being recognised” “Just because we have a learning disability doesn’t mean we can’t be passionate about something” Here are some of the posts that our alumni made in response to this theme. To see more of the posts they made, visit our Instagram page @ThinkForwardUK #learningdisability #embracedifference #doyouseeme #digitalskills