Liverpool-based Career Connect helps over 82,000 people get access to education, training and employment

Career Connect has launched its Impact Report for 2022/23, revealing an increase in the number of people who have been positively impacted by the charity’s mission to drive social mobility.

82, 784 people (up 15, 492 on 2021/22) have been positively impacted by the work of Career Connect, enabling more people to access and succeed in education, training and employment.

The report covers the year April 2022-March 2023, across each of Career Connect’s key areas:

•           Professional careers guidance and employer encounters in schools.

•           Support for young people who are at risk of or Not in Education, Employment or Training (NEET), reaching those who are vulnerable or from under-served groups.

•           Employment, Education and Training support to offenders and ex-offenders

•           Fully accessible, accredited training programmes for careers professionals, run face-to-face or digitally.

•           Careers support and guidance for adults looking for work.

Sheila Clark, CEO of Career Connect, said:

“I am very proud to share our Impact Report for 2022/23. It demonstrates our commitment to placing User Voice at the centre of what we do, shows how we are at the centre of innovation in our sector and how we are harnessing technology to offer new services.

“In what has been a challenging year for all charities, and at a time when our services are needed more than ever, I am proud that we have been able to grow our reach and increase our impact.

“But we know that our real impact is about more than numbers. Throughout the report you will find feedback from people whose lives and outlooks have been changed as a result of working with us – including young people, schools, ex-offenders and careers professionals. This is why we do what we do, and why we will continue to develop our services to meet need. Together with our partners we really are creating better futures!”

Key highlights:

The total of 82, 784 includes:

•           Being responsible for tracking and support services for 35,998 young people across local authority NEET (not in education, employment or training) contracts, including providing substantive support to 18,934.

•           Providing careers education, information, advice and guidance to 39,495 young people across 184 schools in England.

•           Providing careers training and CPD for 651 people across organisations including local authorities, schools and professional careers agencies.

•           Working with 6640 adults through Achieve, our wholly-owned subsidiary which specialises in services for offenders and ex-offenders.

Demonstrating Innovation

Innovation is a key theme of this year’s report.

Find out how our Connect To Your Future (Greater Manchester) and Pathways to Employment (St. Helens) programmes delivered targeted, intensive mentoring to under-served groups of young people, with outstanding results.

These relationship-based models were combined with access to a discretionary fund to help remove often-invisible barriers, such as funding for transport, equipment, clothing or courses which young people would otherwise not have been able to access. Both programmes overachieved in their impact, changing thousands of lives.

Learn about how we have committed to Youth Voice, and the significant impact that our Youth Ambassadors have had on the shaping and design of services across the charity.

In 2022/23 we also launched Get Connected, a new digital careers, education, information, and guidance (CEIAG) tool, catering to students from Years 7 to 13.

Career Connect’s Achieve HMPPS CFO3 team has had national recognition for its innovative work at HMP Risley, on the Discovery Wing project. The bespoke programme is designed to help armed services veterans and other hard-to-reach prisoners access support both in custody and in the community, as they prepare for release.

Calculating our Social Value

For the first time, the charity is also able to report on the additional social value we have delivered in 2022/23.

Social value encompasses the broader positive impact organisations create in the communities in which they operate – beyond what they are paid to deliver.

Using the industry-standard TOMs (Themes, Outcomes, and Measures) calculator, in 2022/23, Career Connect delivered a social value of £8.8million.

Get the latest for Liverpool HERE.