As part of its partnership with UK Youth, Osborne Clarke is proud to announce it has chosen 20 community groups that will receive multi-year grants to address the lack of digital skills and resources for young people over the next three years.
According to the European Union [1], demand for digital skills is expected to increase more than any other area by 2030, with many hopes pinned on young people to lead the ‘digital jobs of the future’. But a recent 2021 report [2] finds 42% - or six million young people – don’t have access to either a suitable device or home broadband.
"Across the country millions of young people depend on charities for support, but increased demand combined with chronic underfunding means many are missing out on building essential skills. As a business, we ultimately benefit when young people are better prepared to enter the workforce. So we feel investing our resources in our local communities to help young people develop their digital skills, which will set them up for the future, is the right thing to do," said Bola Gibson, Head of Inclusion and Corporate Responsibility at Osborne Clarke.
"We're delighted to have selected the 20 grantees that will benefit from Osborne Clarke’s grant funding."
Vicky Chenery, Head of Partnerships and Philanthropy at UK Youth, said: “We're delighted to have selected the 20 grantees that will benefit from Osborne Clarke’s grant funding. This multi-year funding will allow these organisations to make a long-term, sustainable improvement to their digital offering and access to technology for the young people that they serve, providing life-changing support to the young people that need it most at a critical time.”
The long-term grants will be distributed over the next three years to support the community groups in addressing local needs. Most of the successful grantees are based in the communities where Osborne Clarke operates – with 15 youth organisations across London, Bristol and Reading receiving funding.
The funding has also been targeted at the most concerning digital cold spots across the country where digital skills and resources are most in need, and the firm will also support five youth organisations in and around Manchester, Birmingham and Middlesborough.
As further sign of the firm's commitment to boosting digital skills, Osborne Clarke is supporting the successful community groups with pro bono and volunteering support where it can.
The funding will be used in a myriad of ways including for skills development (both for young people and staff), additional resources, hardware equipment, creation of digital resources, software, wifi/data and impact evaluation.
One successful grantee The Open Blue Trust, a youth charity based in Wiltshire, uses a converted double decker bus as a mobile community centre for young people struggling with rural poverty. David Sandberg said the charity will use the funding to install mobile Wi-Fi as well as purchasing hardware for the young people to use on the bus.
"We want to teach young people how to use technology so it serves them and is a resource to them."
"We hope to run internet safety courses for the young people. We want to teach young people how to use technology so it serves them and is a resource to them. We also want to teach them what a fantastic resource the internet is, how to use it sensibly and how to avoid the dangers," said David.
Being a responsible and ethical business and employer underpins Osborne Clarke's business strategy. The Osborne Clarke For Good framework is the firm's way of ensuing it's a good corporate citizen, a good employer and a good business.
For the full list of youth charities receiving grants over the next three years, please visit: Osborne Clarke - UK Youth.
Bristol
Krunch – Work out of the Pod which is based at the local skate park, offering a café and a youth zone. They offer activities four evenings a week, all of which provide food and include: creative activities, games nights, support with getting into work, digital access, Prince’s Trust Achieve programme, cooking, bushcraft sessions and skating.
The Open Blue Trust – The Open Blue Trust looks to build community for those struggling with rural poverty and isolation. They use a converted double deck bus as a mobile community centre, with activities such as carer groups, afterschool clubs and youth drop ins. The bus provides a safe, warm space to those young people and through this detached youthwork The Open Blue Trust is able to offer positive activities and conversation.
Smash Youth Project – Smash Youth Project work with young people aged nine to 16 across all of Swindon, running mentoring sessions five days a week after school for young people referred by their schools and social workers. Mentoring sessions may include discussions around topics like wellbeing, family, their future and relationships.
The RISE Trust (Youth team) – The Rise Trust delivers outreach youth work across North Wiltshire and runs youth clubs in different locations. Once young people have been approached by youth workers during outreach activities, they are then invited to attend sessions at the youth club. The youth club offers a safe space and sessions including wellbeing activities, LGBTQ+ awareness, mental health support and sessions on exploring healthy relationships.
Youth Moves – Youth Moves are a youth charity providing a wide range of services to young people in South Bristol aged eight to 18. Their services include open access youth clubs, street based and schools based youth work, music programmes, environmental work, sports and wellbeing sessions, small group support sessions, one-to-one mentoring, and 'youth voice', an initiative providing young people with a platform and the skills to have their views aired.
London
Code 1 Community Group – Code1 Community Group is a Black-led organisation who provide enrichment activities around Tottenham and Enfield within community spaces such as the youth centre, library and leisure centre, through weekly mentoring and podcasting after school programmes and activities throughout the holidays.
Compass Collective – Compass Collective work with young refugees and asylum seekers aged 14 to 25. They run a range of English classes and provide employment support. They also offer two professional development programmes in London for 18 young people through the arts as well as opportunities in music, drama, life skills and confidence.
Our Time – Our Time makes a big difference to the lives of young people dealing with the challenges of having a parent with a mental illness. They hold monthly workshops to create a safe, relaxed space where families come together to learn about mental illness. While the children de-stress and explore mental health issues through games and drama, their parents are in a peer support group focussed on meeting the challenges of being a parent and having mental health issues.
Teen Action – Teen Action support young women aged 16+ from the Orthodox Jewish Community based in Hackney, who often cannot access mainstream services including schools. They work with young women to upskill them into employment, provide opportunities to bring them together, such as arts and crafts, and deliver mental health support.
The Screen Community – The Screen Community run training workshops in the media industry, bringing in experts to teach disadvantaged young people around the Grenfell area. They teach film, TV production, game design and coding. They have a wide network including schools, SEND schools, pupil referral units and gang referral units. Young people will engage with The Screen Community for around three months and they have a strong follow-on service.
Reading
Be Free Young Carers – Be Free Young Carers run programmes for young carers which include respite sessions in school holidays, monthly activity sessions and a be-friending programme which lasts for a period of six months. Activities are chosen by the young people and can range from cinema screenings to cookery classes. The purpose of the service is to allow young carers to be children away from their caring responsibilities.
Cianna's Smile - Cianna’s Smile provide support for children (aged 0 to 16) and their families who suffer from Sickle Cell Disease. They are the only support for Sickle Cell in the area and all of their services are family oriented. Cianna's Smile offer group family days out, a pen pal programme for children, a book club, advocacy support and wellness days. They also created a 10-week programme where the older attendees can develop life skills.
Domestic Abuse Survivors - DAS work with young people in the social care system, in supported accommodation and with those who just moved into their first independent living space. They support 13 to 25 year-olds who are on the cusp of adulthood and need support in developing key life skills and in overcoming barriers to employment. DAS work intensely with a group of young people, helping them with anything they need support with and mentoring. They also work with young people in a semi-independent group, offering cooking sessions.
Readipop - Readipop provides a fully inclusive and accessible programme of participant-led youth projects and free access to a regular musical offer for vulnerable and disadvantaged children and young people. They offer one-to-one music-based mentoring sessions, free-to-access youth clubs, creative employment, and performance opportunities with outreach workshops.
Tilehurst Junior Club - Tilehurst Junior Club operate a weekly youth club in term times for children aged eight to 12. As well as adult volunteers they have a junior leader team, which is made up of teenagers aged 12+ who want to help out at the club. They run various activities such as sports, arts and anything else that the young people would like to do. Tilehurst Junior Club fills a gap for young people in the area, being the only youth group provision for children aged eight to 12.
Manchester, Middlesborough and Wales
Deaf Hub Wales – Deaf Hub Wales operates a weekly youth group that caters for young deaf people between the ages of 11 and 25. They run activities ranging from tie dye shirts and crafts, filming or working on youth awards. They also offer peer support and a play and activity group for children who are deaf and hard of hearing and their families, and have a sign school which takes place three times a week.
Swansea Music Art Digital – Swansea MAD is a grassroots charity that provides safe spaces for young people to access advocacy, creative arts, education, digital technology, employability support, campaigning activities and projects to bring fairness and belonging. They offer sessions focused on music production, coding, software and hardware systems, and film making. They do also deliver basic digital literacy skills sessions.
Deaf World – Deaf World work with people aged 11 to 25 across the West Midlands, offering a range of programmes and activities based on the needs of the young people. Deaf World have delivered five driving projects which introduce the concept of driving and teach deaf young people road safety and driving skills. Other projects Deaf World are involved with include a yearly residential and a transition to secondary school programme.
Highway Hope – Highway Hope has close to 150 young people aged eight to 18 that use their services every week at the church centre in Manchester, including education classes, music school, coding sessions and more. They also offer one-to-one private tuition and music school sessions.
The Imaginarium Creative Studios – The Imaginarium deliver a range of creative activities for young people through performing arts to support mental health and wellbeing. They offer workshops in schools for those who need more support to engage in the school curriculum, empowering them to identify their barriers and explore what they like to do.
[1] The changing nature of work and skills in the digital age, European Union
