Social Mobility in Education

We have partnered with Sheffield Business Together (SBT), an initiative delivered in partnership by Business in the Community and The Sheffield Chamber of Commerce, to deliver the Social Mobility in Education project. This allows us to offer an extra level of support and a wider pool of volunteers to 18 schools and colleges - all special schools and/or in areas of low social mobility and deprivation, to ensure that young people who may not have had the same start in life as others in the city have access to the same opportunities as their peers.

We have been partnering with SBT since 2019, starting with the Trailblazer School pilot with Sheffield Springs Academy and Longley Park College. This partnership allowed us to open up our offer to all members of Sheffield Business Together and increase the number of volunteers we could call upon for opportunities in these two institutions.

In 2022, this expanded to the Levelling Up Futures in Sheffield programme, which coincided with with SBT becoming part of Sheffield Chamber of Commerce. This allowed us to work with a further 15 schools in areas of low social mobility and disadvantage, offering them a package of careers education engagements supported by an even larger pool of employer volunteers.

The project was a huge success thanks to its innovative approach to cross-sector working and the time and efforts of all the volunteers involved, with 619 volunteers from 152 different employers giving 2,160 hours to support 7,220 students over the course of the year, with activities such as mock interviews, careers talks, careers in the curriculum sessions and workplace visits. 

As a result of this success, we now have an ongoing partnership with SBT, playing to each others' strengths and linking our brokering service and support for small businesses, to our strategic work with schools and colleges.