Impact and reflections: the first two yearsJuly 2014 — June 2016

It is difficult to find work experience. You can get a job where you’ll be paid next to nothing but I think it’s hard to get something that looks good on your CV.

Jordan, 17 years old, Smart Futures, Glasgow

Jordan

Teachers at my school often told me I wouldn’t pass any of my GCSEs. The programme was promoting something different to me and saying I could achieve anything I wanted. Being on the Our Future programme is the reason why I’ve been able to achieve so much education wise.

Hodan, 19 years old, Our Future, London

Hodan

When I first applied to the EY Foundation Smart Futures programme I was in quite a difficult position. I was homeless for eight weeks.

It was quite difficult for me to focus and to concentrate during my studies. It was two months before my school examinations and it started to psychologically affect me.

I was advised by one of my friends to apply for the EY Foundation because it would be quite a positive influence for me, how I perceive my future and what I can achieve.

This idea of hope normally comes about when there’s something that you can’t control. But events like the EY Foundation Smart Futures gave me an insight into how I’m going to be able to control the accommodation of me and my children in the future by going into the business sector — one of the largest firms in the world. It makes you feel positive about having a bright future and you can actually achieve something.

Mustafa18 years old, Smart Futures, London

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What we doWith youth unemployment figures over 12 %, getting a job — and a fulfilling and secure one at that — is still a major hurdle for too many young people across the UK. Those barriers are even bigger if you are one of the 3.9 million young people in the UK who are living in poverty, have language barriers, are homeless, in care or have to look after relatives. The chances of having the contacts or the support required to get a good start are slim. Meanwhile, employers are increasingly concerned about the shortage of skilled workers.

So when we launched the EY Foundation in July 2014 it was clear to us, a charity born out of one of the largest professional services firms in the world, what our role should be. That is to give young people facing barriers to entering the workplace the skills, support, experience and opportunities necessary to succeed and to help employers work with this talented and diverse source of future employees. We do this through our three programmes, Smart Futures, Our Future and Accelerate.

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Mi l e s to n e s

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A measurable, positive impactWe are not yet three years into our mission of improving the working prospects of disadvantaged young people. But from the outset we began developing a monitoring and evaluation process so we could track and understand the impact of our programmes on young people. We’re proud to say that the early results detailed in this report indicate that we are already making a significant positive difference to the lives of the young people we’ve worked with, helping them to more successfully transition to work and higher education. We’re equally delighted to have introduced a growing spectrum of employers from a diverse range of sectors to this pool of talent.

Our perspectiveOur views are shaped by what we see and hear from the young people and employers we work with. This has made us more convinced than ever of the need for systemic change in the way the UK prepares future generations for the workplace.

Our focus is on core “soft skills”, learning and behaviour (rather than the kind of technical skills highlighted in the recent Spring ‘17 budget). These are essential for every young person to successfully enter the workplace — any workplace. In this uncertain economic climate, our society has a duty to equip every young person with these vital work skills so that they have the best chance of achieving a secure future.

We realise it is early days for the Foundation. In this report our aim is to demonstrate the progress we have made so far and our direction of travel. We hope you are as inspired as we are and that you will continue to support us in 2017 and beyond. Together we can ensure that every young person in the UK, whatever their background, gets the opportunities and good working prospects that they deserve.

Maryanne Matthews Chief Executive

Patrick Dunne Chair

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EY Foundation launched,

1st July 2014

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EY Foundation Youth Panel Young people are not just at the heart of what we do but also the head. Through our Youth Panel whose Chair sits on our board, we have young people inputting into every key decision, driving innovation and ensuring that what we are doing is as relevant to them as possible.

View from the Youth PanelThe EY Foundation approached me in December 2015 to join the Youth Panel it was establishing. I was thrilled at the prospect of taking part because the Foundation played a monumental role in my personal development and I share its vision of ensuring all young people have equal access to a fulfilling work life.

I joined the EY Foundation’s Smart Futures programme on its pilot in the summer of 2012. One of the greatest aspects for me was being given a mentor who supported and guided my career decisions and helped me cultivate the skills to get a start in the career of my choice.

There are eight of us on the Youth Panel — former EY Foundation programmes participants and volunteers. Our job is to act as an independent body to steer the development of new programmes, ensure that alumni remain connected and we constructively challenge and assist stakeholders.

The enthusiasm to help young people who are at a disadvantage because of their socio-economic circumstance is an energy that flows all the way from the CEO to every volunteer.

The idea that every young person should be able to achieve and succeed based entirely on their potential and not their background is the charity’s guiding principle. It provides life changing opportunities and I am exceedingly proud to be part of the work the charity is doing.

David Gonzalez

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David Gonzalez22 years old, Smart Futures and

EY Foundation Youth Panel member

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Ronnie Bowker Foundation aligns with

EY Foundation

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► We organise accredited high quality work experience, employability training and mentoring for disadvantaged young people in the UK so that they have a better chance of developing a fulfilling and successful working life.

► Young people on our employability programmes face a range of barriers to entering the labour market. These include poverty, homelessness, coming from minority groups or being in care.

► We work intensively with employers to support them to be ‘young people ready’ so that they can effectively access this pool of talent to the benefit of their business, young people and the UK economy.

► In recognition of the social impact and economic contribution generated by social enterprises, we assist enterprises being run by young people and those providing services for young people to grow.

► Social entrepreneurs receive in-depth coaching and support to increase their social impact.

Who we support

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New social entrepreneurs

Accelerate programme

launched

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I grew up in East London in an area where school is bad, and there is a lot of trouble going on around me, whereas on Our Future I got to learn a lot of things. We learned different skills. I gained a lot of knowledge about the way you speak to people and the way you present yourself. It taught me things to do and what not to do. It really helped boost my confidence. It let me know I achieved something.

I didn’t know what I wanted to do in the future. Now I want to get into the business sector and make a career out of it. I have my long-term career goals. My advice would be to go for it, what have you got to lose? Once you gain the confidence and skills the world is open to you, it is your oyster. No matter what your background is there is nothing there to stop you.

Abdi17 years old, Our Future, London

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Feb rua r y 2015 I

Launch of first Our Future programme

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First sponsored challenge

fundraising event,

Sahara Trek

How we support young peopleSkills and networkingMany young people from disadvantaged backgrounds rarely have the opportunity to learn or experience what it takes to succeed in the workplace. We equip young people with the skills, knowledge and attitudes necessary to thrive. We focus on building young people’s life skills, confidence and resilience through practical exercises, including team problem-solving tasks and role-playing. They have the opportunity to meet a range of people in the workplace and be inspired by speakers at networking events. We also work with social entrepreneurs, helping them develop business skills and networks to facilitate their growth aspirations.

High quality work experienceWe organise a paid experience of work (with a competitive wage) in organisations including EY, Yorkshire Water, Big Lottery Fund and CBRE. Young people are exposed to hands-on activities that provide them with an insight into the working world. We expect our students to do the same work as any other new joiner within the organisation — from attending meetings with clients, developing a marketing campaign, taking notes or being on a shop floor. We aim to equip our young people with a variety of transferable skills to give them a head start in their career of choice regardless of their background. Employers are given practical support and advice on how to provide a mutually valuable work experience and harness the potential of young people.

AccreditationYoung people who have successfully completed our Smart Futures and Our Future programmes receive an adult Level 2 Team Leading qualification — a recognised Chartered Management Institute (CMI) credential.

Mentoring and coachingWe provide one to one mentoring, giving young people the support they need to successfully navigate their transition from school to work, training, education or enterprise. Our business mentoring for social entrepreneurs helps them achieve their growth ambitions and create new jobs for young people. Our aim is to fill an important gap as young people prepare for life after school and the world of work.

Smart Futures works with 16-17 year olds who are economically disadvantaged and have received free

school meals at any time in the last six years. The ten-month programme broadens understanding of different

career pathways, introduces participants to employers, provides paid work

experience (paying a competitive wage), intensive skills training and mentoring.

Our Future is a six-month programme which helps 16-19 year-olds who have significant barriers including low academic attainment to transition

into work. They undertake work experience (paying a competitive wage).

The programme includes networking with local employers who have job vacancies, mentoring, skills

development and alumni events.

Accelerate supports social entrepreneurs aged 18-30 and those that work with young people. It offers

free access to business coaches, tailored workshops, networking events and project support resource. We help them develop

the skills necessary to grow their business at a local, regional or national level that in turn can create greater social impact and

help generate more jobs for young people and stimulate

local economies.

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Smart Futures expanded to four

new locations

Young people and entrepreneurs

New income generated

2016

2015 £

££

£

£

£371,000

£

££

£

£

£467,000(Financial year runs July — June)

Employers engaged in our programme

44

338

250

122

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EY Foundation 2015 & 2016 An overview

Volunteers and fundraisers

1440

914

£

£

UK locations Black, Minority Ethnic Gender * Where given

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15

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Smart Futures Smart FuturesOur Future Our Future

Where I grew up was not a great area so it’s been quite difficult to sort of find opportunities. With the help of my parents, my school and some friends I found the Smart Futures programme and that’s what really helped me develop some lifelong skills.

I think it’s often really difficult for young people to find work experience. If you’re trying to apply for university or straight into work many firms require it and there is a lack of opportunities for young people. It’s easier for people who have family connections in a certain profession or who are from a certain background to get access to work experience and not so much for people who don’t. I think it’s crucial that more opportunities are created and that more help is given to young people.

Louise, 19 years old, Smart Futures, Leeds

48%

78%

90%

57%

42% 53%

49% 49%

50% 50%

43% 57%

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Where in the UK?The number of cities and towns in England and Scotland where we work with disadvantaged young people has more than doubled from 6 to 15 locations since the charity was established. It’s given us a broader reach and better access to some of the UK’s most excluded young people.

London1

Luton2

Southampton3

Liverpool7

Bristol5

Bradford9

Newcastle12

Edinburgh14

Reading4

Manchester8

Hull11

Birmingham6

Leeds10

Glasgow13

Aberdeen15

1

2

3

7

5

9

12

1314

4

8

11

6

10

15

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Creation of Youth Panel and Chair of Youth Panel

appointed to the Board

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Supporting social enterprises

“Startpoint is a coffee shop which provides informal learning in community settings. We focus on supporting people to get online, helping young people to code, and we do a lot around money management, health and wellbeing. We are focusing on people who are still just one pay check away from poverty.

It started off as just me. My mum owned a business next door but one. She had invested heavily, and then the recession hit. The precinct needed to be kept open which was where the shop was, so they needed a new business to open up. I asked the community what they wanted and they said a coffee shop, not a café, as apparently there is a big distinction! And the plan was to use my and my mum’s skills. But I got to the point where I thought if we do not grow we could start stagnating. And I didn’t know what growth was. I was aware I could make bad decisions and not know before it was too late. I needed a critical eye over my decisions. My business coach lived near me and kept me sane. I had professionals pull apart my business plan and we pulled together a new plan and costings, all in a day. This process has meant I am able to open a new coffee shop. And I can’t believe it but we have the venue rent free and services for three years.”

Nicola Wallace Dean, Accelerate, Stockport

Social enterprises we worked with by location

Social enterprises we worked with by sector* sectors overlap in some social enterprises

Food and hospitality

Youth

54%

Recruitment

20%

Training

42%

Education

18%

Community training

11%

Digital

13%

15%

15%

17% 54% 14%

Aberdeen North West London Yorkshire

73 % of social entrepreneurs are still running a business or

enterprise a year after completing Accelerate

Source: Youth Panel alumni research project

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The number of employers we have worked with over our first two years has virtually tripled to a total of 122 and we are building new partnerships all the time.

Working with employers

Yorkshire Water and Our Future

“We’ve always wanted to be an inclusive employer. But this was the first time we did something so structured. It was actually the ability to work with an organisation like EY Foundation that had quality control and standards that knew how to do things in the right way that enabled a company like ours, which was ready and willing, but maybe not capable of moving forward alone.

Very often people are put off working with people with different backgrounds and different abilities because there is a lack of confidence in knowing how to interact with them and how to get the best out of the relationship. But our talent team has gained confidence and knowledge of how to engage and bring in people with backgrounds that they might not have known how to work with before. I think we’re no longer scared of doing the wrong thing because we’ve now got experience in working well with a diverse workforce.”

Liz Barber Finance and Regulation Director, Kelda Group

10%

13%

11%

15%31%

8%

6%6%

Luton

NewcastleBirmingham

Yorkshire

Edinburgh

London

North West

Glasgow

Growth in employer partners

by location

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Fastest growing employer partners by sector

Finance Government Manufacturing Utilities

16% 13% 6% 6%

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CMI accreditation of Our Future and

Smart Futures programme confirmed

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A positive measurable impactOur mission is to improve the working prospects of disadvantaged young people and help employers access this untapped potential. To ensure we achieve these objectives, we developed our Theory of Change which maps our funded activities against our goals for young people. We worked closely with New Philanthropy Capital (NPC), to develop an objective and verifiable way to measure our success. We have developed a Theory of Change for each of our programmes — Smart Futures, Our Future and Accelerate.

Long term outcomes

Young people have: ► The attitudes and behaviour they need to succeed. ► The skills and knowledge they need to succeed.

Employers: ► Sustain their commitment to hiring young people and helping them enter the workplace.

► Implement and are aware of the best techniques to identify, recruit and retain young employees.

► Young people from disadvantaged backgrounds move into higher education, jobs, self-employment or training.

► Young people have better opportunities for high quality work and job development.

► Employment opportunities for young people in social enterprises increase.

Social Entrepreneurs: ► Young entrepreneurs have the ability to lead and grow a successful social enterprise.

Short term

objectives

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When I applied for the civil service apprenticeship in project delivery, having the CMI team leading qualification was like that extra little bit. My careers advisor at my college said they will see it as really useful.

Millie, 18 years old, Smart Futures, Reading

We have an ageing workforce, a really high proportion of whom we anticipate to be leaving the business in the next ten years. So we need to start to do something about that and take some action.

EY Foundation employer partner

Final goals

► More young people realise their career ambitions.

► More UK employers and social entrepreneurs play an active role in supporting young people to realise their full work potential.

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95% of Smart Futures participants improved their self confidence.

100% of young people who participated in Our Future say they now feel that they know someone they can approach for employment advice compared with 71% before the programme started.

So how are we doing?Although we’re still a young organisation, we’re delighted to report that our results, based on surveys of the young people we have supported and the employers we have worked with demonstrate that we are making progress against our Theory of Change short term goals.

Changing young people’s attitudes and behaviourWe support young people to develop the attitudes and behaviour that will help them to thrive in the workplace and to develop their future ambitions. We help employers to work effectively and in a mutually beneficial way with young people.

Building young people’s knowledge and skills

88% of Smart Futures participants said they had significantly improved their presentation skills.

81% of Smart Futures participants they had significantly improved their networking and communications skills.

93% of Smart Futures participants said they had improved their team working skills.

Source: EY Foundation internal monitoring data

Source: EY Foundation internal monitoring data

Source: EY Foundation internal monitoring data Source: EY Foundation internal monitoring data

Source: EY Foundation internal monitoring data

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EY Foundation commissions research

into young people’s views and experience

of entering the workforce

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A bridge between employers and young peopleWe provide employers with information and advice sessions on topics from insurance to structuring a work experience placement, resolving any difficulties and helping to build employer confidence in engaging with young people.

78% improved their leadership skills.

83% improved their financial planning abilities.

Enhancing social entrepreneur’s leadership and business skills

78% of social entrepreneurs improved their networking skills.

71% of employers increased their awareness of the range of talented young people in the UK.

86% feel equipped to build and sustain relationships with young people as a result of our programmes.

100% would participate in a similar programmes with young people in the future.

Source: EY Foundation internal monitoring data

Source: EY Foundation alumni survey Source: EY Foundation alumni survey

Source: EY Foundation internal monitoring data Source: EY Foundation internal monitoring data Source: EY Foundation internal monitoring data

Source: EY Foundation internal monitoring data

of EY Foundation alumni surveyed

said they would recommend

programmes.

93%96% of alumni have gone onto further, higher, vocational

education, full/part-time employment or are self-employed.

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Confidence is a skill but how do you teach confidence? So that was a really big thing that challenged me. How do you support someone else to get there who might have gone through a very different journey? I didn’t teach them any brilliance. It is just them. It was all there and we just brought out their confidence.

Marlene, EY Foundation volunteer mentor

Volunteers

Nearly 1500 volunteers worked with us over our first two years. They tell us they have gained significantly in terms of personal development, motivation and engagement with their organisations and communities. Volunteers for the EY Foundation who act as facilitators delivering CMI content can gain Continuing Professional Development (CPD) credits through StudyFlex.

17% of volunteers were mentors

43% were ‘other skills-based’ volunteers40% of

volunteers were fundraisers

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Smart Futures corporate partners

££

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Over the last two years we have continued to work to make our programmes as cost effective as possible. In addition to working with more young people, every £1 we spend now goes further in creating impact and a difference in the lives of disadvantaged young people.

Charity efficiency

In it’s first two years EY Foundation had:

a 35% increase

a 35% decrease

and

in the number of young people we supported

in the cost of putting a student through our programmes

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EY, Yorkshire Water, Williams

Lea, CBRE, Guidant become Our

Future corporate partners.

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Through our programmes we are learning so much from young people and employers about what both need from one another to succeed (especially soft and non-cognitive skills) and we are improving our activity in response.

We are using that knowledge, as well as new research, to shape a major new initiative going forward which aims to create systemic change to better prepare young people to enter the workplace in the UK.

We are learning what a catalyst for change social enterprises can be and the multiplier effect on families and communities. So we’re exploring the potential for young people aged under 18 to have access to these programmes.

We have learnt how much good intent there is across the education, business, and government sectors to create solutions. We will ensure that young people are at the vanguard of change, working with employers in each of these sectors to improve the working prospects of young people.

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Like all young organisations we are on a learning curve, but looking back over our first two years as an independent charity, we have come to four overarching conclusions that will affect how we continue to expand our support for young people. We are already incorporating this new knowledge into our plans for 2017 and beyond.

What we have learntYour support has been invaluable and we hope you will continue to support us into 2017, and beyond.

Summer 2016

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Three year strategic plan

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Thank you to all of our volunteers, fundraisers, employer participants and supporters. Your belief in young people, your energy, commitment and expertise has made our work possible.

A big thank you to all of our funders, big and small, who have ensured that

we’ve been able to reach the young people most in need.

Your support has been invaluable and we hope you will continue to support us into 2017, and beyond. Thank you

EmployersWe work with employers who are committed to providing opportunities for young people to get access to high quality experiences of work and careers and access to job opportunities. As an employer participant — not only will you change a young person’s life — you will discover a range of other benefits and engage your workforce of the future.

Volunteer with usBecome a mentor on one of our programmes. You’ll make a huge difference to the lives of young people and will also have the opportunity for personal growth and development.

Get involved in our exciting fundraising initiatives and choose from a range of activities either as a supporter, or as a participant (or both).

Join us in making an impact

Support usYour investment will make a tangible difference for young people.

If you’re a UK taxpayer, The Foundation will receive up to £250 through Gift Aid for every £1,000 you give.

If you are as passionate as we are about creating social impact by helping young people and entrepreneurs in the UK, then we want to hear from you!

Email: Enquiries@eyfoundation.ey.com Tel: 020 7951 3133

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Largest volunteer participation in a fundraiser — Mud

Trial 2016

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The EY Foundation

About EY Foundation

The EY Foundation is a UK registered charity that works directly with disadvantaged young people, employers and social entrepreneurs to create or support pathways to education, employment or enterprise. EY Foundation is an independent UK charity that builds and delivers programmes, working with third parties and volunteers. EY Foundation operates and is incorporated independently of EY and is governed by a separate trustee board.

The EY Foundation is a charitable company registered in England and Wales and Scotland with registered charity number 1157154 and SC045076. It is also a member firm of Ernst & Young Global Limited.

The EY Foundation, 1 More London Place, London, SE1 2AF

© 2017 The EY Foundation.

All rights reserved

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