Ridge & Partners, a Built Environment Consultancy with eleven locations across the UK, recently signed the Care Leaver Covenant. The Covenant is a promise made by the private, public and voluntary sectors to advocate for care leavers aged 16-25.
As part of their pledge, Ridge agreed to offer twelve work experience opportunities to care leavers in the local community.
They chose the Match My Project platform to fulfil this commitment. Four successful candidates were referred to Ridge by the Greater Manchester Youth Network and the Stockport Leaving Care Team.
Diversifying Workforce Practices
Philippa Wilkinson is the passionate Post-16 Lead at the Stockport Virtual School. She explains that it is not a “real” school, but rather, a team of teachers and other professionals that support the educational attainment and employment aspirations of people aged two to twenty-five, who have been looked after by the local authority.
I asked her about the main challenges that care-experienced individuals face in entering the workforce.
She cites disrupted education patterns of these young people, including suspensions, exclusions, and low attendance, as major factors that often become barriers to entering the workforce in subsequent years.
The Stockport Virtual School advocates for these oft-misunderstood individuals: “So we’re trying to make the best opportunities for them, and get companies to understand that and make allowances for this group of young people.”
Matching with Ridge through Match My Project has allowed the virtual school to promote quality employability opportunities for young people. Phillipa explains that the successful candidate was treated like a “proper” employee at Ridge: they were given a laptop, and their own email address, and included in meetings at different levels. They were made to feel a part of the working environment at Ridge, and given personalised support throughout the two-week placement.
The work placement went so well that the candidate was offered an ongoing mentorship.
What stands out to me most about my conversation with Phillipa is the point that care-leaver work placements add value to the hosting business as much as they benefit the candidate.
Phillippa puts it this way:
“As adults and professionals, we do tend to think our way is the best way … but it’s not necessarily the case. Sometimes for a company to take a young person who has a care-experienced background might give them another dimension, another viewpoint in meetings, another way of looking at things. It diversifies their own workforce practices.”
Adding Another Dimension
Laura Perry, Social Value Project Consultant at Ridge, agrees that care-experienced individuals bring immense value to an organisation.
She tells me that, as part of the work placement, the candidate was tasked with researching charities in a local area that Ridge was submitting for work in. The care-leaver happened to have had first-hand experience with many of the local charities. They were able to give insights into these organisations that, as Laura points out, the team would have had no other way of finding out.
Laura goes on to explain the impact that the student had on her team:
“With the knowledge of charities and being a service user – that was huge – money can’t buy that kind of first-hand experience. I think we all learnt a lot from them. They’re resilient; they spoke really openly about their experiences or some of their challenges, and it was a really open conversation … it helped us understand more some of the challenges that care-leavers face … it was a massive learning curve for us.”
Match My Project is Helping Overlooked Individuals into Work
The testimonials from the Stockport Virtual School, Greater Manchester Youth Network, and the team at Ridge & Partners illustrate the immense value that Match My Project’s Pathways to Work feature can bring to both businesses and individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds.
By posting work placement and job opportunities through the platform, companies can quickly and directly connect with organisations supporting overlooked groups like care-leavers. The successful Ridge work placement shows how care-experienced individuals can provide fresh perspectives and diversify workforce practices.
For businesses looking to make a positive social impact while tapping into an underutilised talent pool, Match My Project’s Pathways to Work is the ideal solution. Post your employment opportunities on the platform today – here’s how.
For VCSE’s looking to access quality opportunities for local people, look no further than Match My Project. Watch this video on how to navigate Pathways to Work as a community organisation.
To learn more about Pathways to Work watch this video in which our CEO Dan explains the value of the new feature.
By partnering with Match My Project, your organisation can join the movement towards building a more inclusive workforce and equitable society for all.
