Youth charity Impetus has announced its partnership with State Street Corporation to provide support to local charities working with young people from disadvantaged backgrounds in the UK.

Over the course of this three-year partnership, $900,000 (£666,810) will be provided in funding to two charities who are playing a fundamental role in supporting young people from disadvantaged backgrounds to move into further education, work or training: Dallaglio RugbyWorks and City Gateway.

Eleanor Harrison OBE, Chief Executive at Impetus said: “State Street’s co-investment in two of our charity partners, Dallaglio RugbyWorks and City Gateway, will be pivotal in helping these organisations deliver better education and employment outcomes for young people from disadvantaged backgrounds.

“Their financial and skills support come at a critical moment when young people are facing unprecedented challenges; their targeted investment will drive positive change.”

Youth employment is in crisis, with a COVID-19 generation set to spend long periods out of work. Figures predict that around 2-3.5 million job losses will occur because of the pandemic, with young people being hit first and hardest.

In particular, under-25’s are 2.5 times more likely than over-25’s to have been working in shut-down sectors like hospitality, and the drop of 16-24-year olds in employment accounts for 60% of the total drop for all ages since January.

The charities

Dallaglio RugbyWorks uses the values of rugby to support disadvantaged young people by helping them to re-assess their lives and focus on developing key life skills, leading them to be equipped to get into sustained education, employment and training. The charity currently operates in seven regions across England and Wales.

After being permanently excluded from her mainstream school, Kimberley felt she had no future to look forward to. But from Dallaglio RugbyWorks, she’s had the support she needed to rebuild her confidence and plan her future: “After getting excluded from school for fighting, I felt I was being treated like a criminal. I just felt like giving up on my future; but I know that wasn’t right.

“The coaches at RugbyWorks believe in us. They have shown us different career opportunities to get us thinking about our futures and telling us how we should write our CVs for job and training interviews. I definitely feel more confident about everything now and that is thanks to the supportive people around me at my school as well as the coaches from RugbyWorks.”

With over 700,000 young people out of work or education before the crisis hit, many are concerned that young people from disadvantaged backgrounds will be pushed to the back of the queue.

Based in East London and working with young people from across the capital, City Gateway provides education, training, and support to 16-24-year-olds from disadvantaged backgrounds who have low prior attainment and no experience or access to professional careers.

By providing English and math qualifications, coaching and work placements, their programme helps young people to secure a sustained outcome, whether that’s a job, further training or an apprenticeship. 

City Gateway student, Aaron, was encouraged to sign up to their programme by a friend: “When I joined, I didn’t know anything about how to act in the workplace. I didn’t know how to write an email formally, interview skills, how to communicate professionally, how to prepare for interviews – none of it. City Gateway gave me a better chance of getting a job, by covering all of these things and more.”

With City Gateway’s help, Aaron got an apprenticeship with Renault. “I’ve enjoyed my first few months so much that I can see myself being there a long time. I know that I will enjoy working up the ranks.”

“We recognise the importance of investing in the communities in which we operate, and we are proud to make strategic investments around our charitable focus areas of workforce development and education,” said Rick Lacaille, Global Chief Investment Officer at State Street Global Advisors and Executive Sponsor of State Street’s UK Community Support Committee.

“Amid a challenging employment market, there’s never been a more important time to empower young people and promote equality of opportunities for everyone in society. This fund will contribute to the commendable work done by these charities in supporting young people from disadvantaged backgrounds to move into further education, work or training.”