How many things in life can you consider ‘win win’ all round? Having listened to all of the contributors and winners at our annual Youth Employability Summit and Awards, I’d be confident in saying that supporting more young people into work, especially those who face the toughest barriers, is one of those things.
Our events brought together employers, partners, government and young people from across our network. Which meant we looked at the challenges and opportunities around youth employment from all angles.
We heard from young people who faced significant challenges getting into work – homelessness, family estrangement, growing up in care, school exclusion, experiencing the justice system, or having poor mental and physical health. They talked passionately about the transformational effect a chance at work can have on individual lives and life chances, and how it can lift up families and communities.
We heard from employers who have offered these opportunities, seeing their workforce and their talent pipeline enriched by the inclusion of young people with diverse experiences, abilities and perspectives. They spoke, too, about the benefits to existing employees, who get so much from supporting these new starters to succeed.
And we heard from the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Pat McFadden, who spoke about the nearly one million young people in the UK who are not in employment, education or training, and the £2.5bn of funding the Government is putting behind Youth Guarantee initiatives to offer 500,000 new opportunities to earn or learn.
His call to action was clear – we all have a part to play. As we face labour shortages and skills gaps, an aging population, and a working landscape being reshaped by technology, we simply cannot afford to have so many young people out of the workforce. We need to act now to support and develop young talent to sustain our industries and economy.
It’s clear that addressing the challenge of youth unemployment is a collective endeavour. And it isn’t easy. Yet by addressing it, we benefit people, communities, employers, industries and the economy. In the Secretary’s words, it’s a cause very much in the national interest. Win win all round.
The really exciting thing about our Summit and Awards is that it gathers together hundreds of people from dozens upon dozens of organisations who are all committed to that cause. Employers and youth organisations who collaborate, innovate and partner with others to support young people with meaningful pathways to work. They understand the challenges, they see the opportunities and they are driven to do more.
We channeled that energy into some excellent discussions, starting with a panel led by our fantastic host, Ben Shephard and featuring employers Diageo and Compass Group, alongside youth organisation Thrive and the brilliant Fathi Abdulahi who secured a role at Accenture through a Movement to Work programme. This experienced group explored the benefits of taking a place-based approach to creating youth employment opportunities. We heard how our YouthPath initiative – working directly with Combined Authorities to galvanise local employers and grass-roots youth organisations – is already delivering local opportunity and impact in the West Midlands, Liverpool City Region and Greater Manchester.
Inviting all of our guests to weigh in on this topic, our roundtable discussions focused on how we can accelerate this place-based approach to help employers and young people realise the promise of the Government’s Youth Guarantee. These conversations – between employers, civil service, youth organisations, training partners and young people themselves – were rich, insightful and multi-faceted, offering a range of insights we’ll be sharing with our network.
If our Summit fuelled the brain, our Awards certainly fuelled the heart. We hold these annual awards because helping more young people into work requires belief, commitment and tenacity – from employers, from partners and from young people. And we believe that deserves to be recognised and celebrated.
There were so many incredible nominations this year that reaching a shortlist in each category was tough enough, let alone selecting the ultimate winner – I take my hat off to our fabulous panel of judges. Each nomination is a story of outstanding contribution – employers challenging the status quo and creating intentionally inclusive opportunities for young people; partners offering meaningful, lasting support for young people when they need it most; and young people who have boldly embraced the opportunities created. You can see a full list of our amazing award winners here.
While our employers and partners shone on stage, our brightest stars were, as ever, the young people who spoke during the day, were nominated or won awards. Many bravely talked about the challenges they have overcome to succeed. All inspired us with their resilience, determination, integrity and adaptability. Which employer would not want these qualities in their future workforce?
Of course, events like these don’t happen without a huge amount of hard work and lots of backing. I offer sincere thanks to our speakers, panellists, award nominators, nominees and winners, our bedrock Steering Group and our award sponsors and contributors whose generous support helped make this year’s Summit and Awards such a memorable and impactful event. And last but certainly not least, thank you to the mighty team at Movement to Work who make all the magic happen.
If you’d like to be part of driving lasting social change for young people, we’d love to hear from you.
- Contact us at info@movementtowork.com to find out more or to sponsor an award in 2027
- Join Movement to Work to open more doors for young people
Charles Woodburn said: “It’s been a huge privilege to serve as Chair of Movement to Work and witness the life-changing impact of opening doors to employment for young people who lack opportunity, not ability. I’m incredibly proud of what our movement has achieved together -supporting more than 250,000 young people and launching vital initiatives like YouthPath and the Next-Gen AI Skills programme. Emma is a passionate advocate for early careers and I’ve no doubt she will be an outstanding Chair. I look forward to supporting her and the wider team as I continue my involvement in the charity.”
Sareena Bains, former CEO of Movement to Work, added:
Barry O’Sullivan, Managing Director of Diageo Great Britain, said:
