New “Partnership for supporting Young People in Work”

The 5% Club and The Brathay Trust are pleased to announce a new “Partnership for supporting Young People in Work” which will see them working more closely and collaborating to maximise their combined effect for the benefit of all young workers, especially those on “earn and learn” schemes.

This new partnership will shape and focus employer collaborations and interventions that best help young people at the challenging “transition to work” stage and will include a range of initiatives that aim to help employers support young people develop the life skills that are so essential in the modern workplace, and especially in their early careers. It will also shape and encourage positive employer action to both maximise the presented opportunities and remove unnecessary or unseen barriers to quality skills development opportunities for the younger members of their workforces.

At a time when there is an unprecedented demand for skills across the country and throughout all sectors of the economy, the partners are keen to help employers maximise the potential within the younger worker talent pool, and to help young people become the “best versions of themselves” in the workplace. Additionally, the partners are keen to challenge the established norms within early careers schemes and ensure the wealth of talent in all areas of our society is maximised in full, to the benefit of engaged employers and the wider economy.

The partners are well fitted for this collaboration and have already worked together over several years as part of The Balfour Beatty Brathay Apprenticeship Challenge, where the Brathay Trust is an integral delivery partner within the Balfour Beatty early careers schemes. In moving forward, they intend to produce shared thought leadership articles and expert opinion, Employer Insight and Learning Events, and closer linkage with employer validation schemes such as The 5% Club Employer Audit (Platinum, Gold, Silver, and Bronze membership).

Frank Clayton MBE, Head of People Development at Brathay said “As a children and young people’s charity, we are committed to developing the next generation of talent. There has never been a more pressing need for us to lean in and invest in our young people as we prepare to face some of our greatest challenges.

Our partnership with The 5% Club is a great opportunity for us to share what we’ve learned over 75 years of working with apprentices, graduates and young people, about how best to design impactful development programmes, enabling those who undertake them to improve their confidence, demonstrate their many strengths, and enhance their wellbeing, whilst adding greater value to their organisations and the communities in which they live.”

Mark Cameron OBE, CEO of The 5% Club said, “This new partnership builds on The 5% Club purpose and provides a crucial lens through which we can focus our activity for the benefit of those Young People transitioning-into-work. As we both grow in the post-pandemic, post-BREXIT era we will combine our efforts to understand and then remove the persistent barriers and challenges faced by Young People in work ….”.

He adds, “The 5% Club is well placed for this challenge, with our membership now numbering over 830 Employers, representing 1.6m workers and more than 93,500 staff members on earn & learn schemes. We have a track record of inspiring our members to create opportunities using workplace learning, and it is clear there is a need to redouble efforts in support of Young People in particular”.