Leading Youth Charities join forces to solve the biggest post pandemic barriers for young people

Speakers for Schools, UK Youth and Young Enterprise come together in a historic partnership to launch, ‘Youth Card’, the social mobility app packed with thousands of career preparing opportunities and exclusive student discounts.

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Leading social mobility charities Speakers for Schools, UK Youth and Young Enterprise have joined forces to solve the biggest post-pandemic barriers facing young people. Today they are launching Youth Card, a free app that places career preparing opportunities directly into the hands of young people across the UK.
The app aggregates the three charities’ own services, including:

  • Access to the UK Youth network (currently standing at over 7000 youth organisations, providing youth work, outdoor learning and skills development activities.)
  • Young Enterprise’s financial and enterprise programmes to develop skills, confidence and enterprising mindsets that help break down barriers to social mobility.
  • Speakers for Schools’ career programmes, connecting disadvantaged young people to sector leaders through inspirational talks and high-quality work experience opportunities.

    • This means the Youth Card is packed with thousands of mentoring programmes, career guidance, work experience placements, extra-curricular activities, financial education, open access and targeted youth work provision, inspirational career talks as well as a range of discounts with top retailers. It is free to download and available to all young people in the UK aged 11 to 25.

    This means the Youth Card is packed with thousands of mentoring programmes, career guidance, work experience placements, extra-curricular activities, financial education, open access and targeted youth work provision, inspirational career talks as well as a range of discounts with top retailers. It is free to download and available to all young people in the UK aged 11 to 25.

    Separate research from the IFS and Resolution Foundation published last week revealed the major concerns amongst young people in the UK about finding a job and the toll on their mental health after facing the brunt of the economic fallout from the pandemic.

    Baroness Barran, Minister for Civil Society and Youth, comments: “The last 18 months have been difficult for all of us, but we know that young people have found it hard to access the continued support they need to learn and grow.

    “It is wonderful to see three of our leading youth charities coming together to launch the Youth Card which opens up a whole new world of real opportunity, helping our young people get back on track and accessing the career guidance and support they need to succeed.”

    Removing barriers to work experience

    Leading employers Spotify, BP, the Bank of England and Spaceport Cornwall are signed up to offer work experience through Youth Card, amongst 20,000 other available work experience placements, insight days, CV training, volunteering courses with leading employers and organisations.

    While all opportunities available are currently virtual, once the current working from home guidance alters, the app will begin to offer in-person opportunities at a local and national level too.

    European Discount Card

    Youth Card also offers a range of discounted services in partnership with over 70 UK businesses, including 15% off Young Driver driving lessons, 25% off Illamasqua and £100 off Camp EuroTrip amongst many others and will include thousands of discounts Europe wide, thanks to our partnership with the European Youth Card Association.

    The app is available to download today from the App Store here and Google Play here.

    Jason Elsom, Chief Executive Officer, Speakers for Schools, comments: “Our work with young people has highlighted the value they place on work experience, but the reality is it is currently unattainable to many. Long before Covid-19 there have been significant barriers for young people looking to find experience, either due to where they live, ability to travel or knowing where and how to apply, relying on parental connections. The pandemic has merely exacerbated the issue and we owe it to young people to help them build successful careers.

    “We urge businesses to partner with us and consider providing work experience opportunities or careers guidance through Youth Card. It represents a crucial tool for engaging with young people across the UK of all backgrounds, providing them with life-changing experiences which could determine their future career paths.”

    Sharon Davies, CEO, Young Enterprise, comments: “We are thrilled to have partnered with Speakers for Schools and UK Youth to launch the Youth Card, enabling more young people to access developmental opportunities that are both relevant and meaningful to them. Through our programme delivery we know just how important it is that young people can access opportunities to apply their skills and develop crucial enterprising mindsets, and Youth Card is a huge step forward in young people taking control of this for themselves.”

    Ndidi Okezie, CEO, UK Youth, comments: “It’s time to meet young people exactly where they are, by placing a diverse range of opportunities, support, and activities into their hands. That equity of quality provision is the promise of Youth Card and that is why we are delighted to be partnering with Speakers for Schools and Young Enterprise on this game changing digital initiative. We are inviting youth organisations to add their services to the platform, so that together we can ensure young people, schools, employers and government alike, are aware of the opportunities that exist for young people in their local area.”

    To find out more about Youth Card, please visit: https://www.speakersforschools.org/about/youthcard/

    Building Futures | A Celebration of Young People

    Young people are our future. Yet, it can be easy to overlook their incredible talents. We wanted to take a step back and make young people the stars of the show. Our Building Futures event fervently shone a light on the fantastic results young people are achieving through Young Enterprise programmes such as Fiver, 10X, Money Heroes, and Company Programme.

    The UK is packed with millions of smart, talented, and hardworking young people who are passionate about creating a sustainable, kind, and caring world to live in. Yet for anyone looking from afar tales of a ‘lost covid generation’ would lead you to believe that there is little hope for the future.

    So we decided to change the narrative and bring the focus back to young people themselves by celebrating their achievements. Unleashing untapped talent across the UK is something we pride ourselves on, so we invited Ben Francis, Founder of Gymshark, and Steph McGovern, TV presenter and financial journalist, to join us in our celebration and put a spotlight on this remarkable generation.

    The challenges faced by young people at the moment are great. But so too is their initiative and creativity to overcome them.

    That’s why we wanted to start a conversation showcasing the resilience, creativity, and ingenuity of young people. Only by fully understanding their extraordinary capabilities are we able to tailor our support in order to help them thrive and flourish in 2021 and beyond.

    “When you read about Gymshark you read about the huge success, what you don’t get to read about are the seven websites that I started before Gymshark that failed miserably, you don’t read about the times where it was incredibly stressful and difficult to try and get the brand to grow.”

    – Ben Francis Founder and incoming CEO of Gymshark

    What can we do to celebrate the extraordinary achievements of young people in the face of a global pandemic which has had a disproportionate impact on young people? Put on an event all about them of course.

    Through the inspiring conversations of the UK’s leading young entrepreneur Ben Francis and esteemed financial journalist Steph McGovern we dove deep into the incredible impact Young Enterprise has on lives across the UK. The celebration has further fuelled our desire to do everything in our power to support young people with the best enterprise and financial education possible, in order to help them tackle the ever changing world of work. With our brilliant speakers and hundreds of virtual attendees, it generated ideas, inspiration and motivation for a bright post-Covid future.