City & Guilds Foundation: skilled for success

Every year, over a million people are supported by the City & Guilds Foundation to gain skills that help them into employment, develop within their role and prepare for their next job. 

We’ve had the privilege of working with the Foundation since 2022. It’s a partnership that has helped us to expand our employment support for refugees and enabled us to create bespoke programmes to improve access to training and job readiness. 

Highlights of the partnership from 2022-24 included:

• A grant, which allowed us to pilot two bespoke training pathways, called Access to Health and Social Care, for 24 of our clients. This model engaged employers and has become a blueprint for other bespoke sector approaches to training and employment.  

• Thirty-two clients were supported on their journeys to restarting their careers, thanks to ENIC (European Network of National Information Centres) licences funded by City & Guilds Foundation, which recognise and compare international qualifications.  

• Three clients received bursaries of more than £2,000 from City & Guilds Foundation to access training courses at its partner colleges.  
• A special Refugee Week 2024 podcast as part of the City & Guilds’ Foundation & Friends series, where Head of Corporate Partnerships, Jessica Ridgewell, and City & Guilds Foundation Advocacy Lead Lauren Roberts, explored how businesses can champion refugee inclusion in the workforce. 

Last year, City & Guilds Foundation renewed its support for refugees through a donation to Breaking Barriers. Through this contribution: 

• Nine of our clients have received an ENIC licence, to recognise their qualifications in the UK. 

• Two clients have received bursaries to access courses. 

• Twelve clients took part in a Health and Social Care Pathway, alongside 10 City & Guilds’ volunteers who facilitated 1:1 CV and job search clinics.  
• Eleven clients accessed a Health and Safety Course to support them to gain Built Environment sector-based knowledge. 

Together, we are removing the barriers to employment and creating opportunities for forcibly displaced people as they build new lives in the UK. 

In this video, Laura Mountain, Head of Foundation, Social Value and Sustainability at the City & Guilds Foundation, talks about the organisation’s strategic aims, its qualifications mapping service that helps employers to understand the skills and experience that refugees offer, and the benefits of our Business Behind Refugees movement.