We’ve committed to spending £150,000 through our Foundation from 2021 to 2024. It’s our way of using our surplus to support the communities we serve in the housing sector. In the first round of funding last year we supported Construction Youth Trust (CYT) with a £10,000 donation. We recently caught up with them one year on to hear how their project was progressing.
Who are Construction Youth Trust?
CYT is a forward-thinking charity whose mission it is to help young people overcome barriers to employment and reach their full career potential. Prioritising young people from disadvantaged backgrounds and under-represented groups, they prepare young people for the world of work, support them to build their skills, and connect them with opportunities and employers within the construction sector.
CYT takes a relationship-based approach to working with unemployed young people, building trust and understanding through 1-2-1 coaching, and working together to create an action plan addressing individual needs, goals and areas of interest.
What is CYT’s NEET programme? And how did SEC’s Foundation funding help?
One of CYT’s key objectives is supporting young people who are not in education, employment or training (NEET) into positive and sustainable employment, education or training (EET). Our funding helped CYT to establish a successful NEETs programme model for Southwark and support 26 unemployed young people –
- 9 young people have already completed the programme and progressed into employment or college destinations.
- 13 young people are already engaged in coaching and CYT are currently working with them towards achieving their next steps.
- 12 young people passed CYT’s L1 Health & Safety course, with an additional 8 proceeding to obtain CSCS cards.
Over the course of the programme CYT worked with many local referral partners, such as Southwark Works and Southwark Youth Offending Service, as well as employers operating in the Southwark area.
“Before I came across CYT, I felt like a lost soul with no direction. I knew I wanted a job in construction but didn’t know how to get started. I was tired of false promises from other companies that said they would help me. I basically gave up all hope until I received a phone call from Tony [CYT coach] that changed my life. As soon as he got in contact with me, he started helping and giving me guidance and mentorship by aiding me with acquiring a CSCS card as promised. I was very impressed by the professionalism of the organisation. What’s even better is that he didn’t stop there; he was determined to help me find an apprenticeship as well. Honestly, I’ve never met such amazing souls driven to help others until they are set up for life. Other organisations would’ve just left me on my own once I got the card, but not CYT. I love working with them because they always have my best interest at heart, which makes them easy to trust and made it easier for me to believe in myself (because they did too!) which led me to this wonderful apprenticeship”
Previous NEET Programme Participant
“We are extremely grateful to SEC Foundation for their support. Without that support, our Southwark NEETs programme would not have been as successful as it currently is. We are also very thankful to SEC for inviting us to participate in their annual conference and giving one of our coordinators a chance to speak at the event. The conference was a fantastic opportunity to connect with local employers and spotlight our charitable work, and we would like to thank SEC for facilitating it.”
Tommy Farrell
Partnerships Manager, Construction Youth Trust
Learn more about CYT and the positive work they’re doing here – Construction Youth Trust |
We’re so pleased to see that the donations we make through our Foundation fund make a real difference to the lives of people in our communities. And we’re proud to say that we’re still open for the next round of nominations – the current nomination window closes on 31st March.
Learn more about how you can nominate here.
Interested in learning more about other projects we’ve supported? Hear more about them below.
