Future First

Future First is a social business working to revolutionise careers advice and build communities in schools across the UK. They do this by bringing former students back to their old schools and colleges to inspire, advise and guide current pupils.

In a country where your parents’ wages are more likely to define your career path than your own ability, networks of role models that young people can relate to are desperately needed to help them fulfil their potential. Working in partnership with state schools and complementing current careers provision, Future First creates individually tailored, community-based answers to the challenges that confront young people as they build their CVs, develop their interests and aspirations and start to think about the world of work.

By working closely with schools, local authorities and their network of partners to ensure a joined-up service, Future First aims to:

• Educate young people about career paths and options
• Improve job readiness and employability
• Raise aspiration and confidence

Future First delivers these objectives through three core programmatic elements:

Community Building

They build a network of school alumni from a diverse range of careers, who can offer first-hand guidance to students as they make crucial decisions about their future options. By showcasing a range of jobs and skills, Future First broadens students’ horizons, breaking down any negative preconceptions that students may have about certain jobs and celebrating the range of success to come out of a school.

Community Engagement

Future First runs a four year curriculum of events for students in Years 10 to 13, designed to fit in with the choices they are having to make about school, further study and work. Their events introduce students to role models, educate them about career and higher education opportunities and help inform the difficult decisions they are making. As well as face-to-face support, students engage with Future First online via an interactive website built uniquely for each school they work in. Through this pupils discover different careers that match their skills and interests and communicate with former students about paths into jobs through moderated forums.

Increasing Employability

Future First leverages alumni networks to offer advice and ideas on internship and work shadowing placements and to open up access to opportunities for pupils at Future First schools. Beyond this, through their network of local and national corporate partners they are able to encourage businesses to open their doors to work-shadowing placements and industry days that both build CVs and allow fantastic insights into the world of work for students at Future First schools who would not normally have such an opportunity.

In October 2009 Future First was pleased to be featured in the Government White Paper on Information, Advice and Guidance as an example of the active and ambitious mentoring in which all schools should be engaged.

For more information, please visit their website http://www.futurefirst.org.uk/.

To learn more about their work and the impact it is having on communities, please contact Alex Shapland-Howes on 0207 812 0540 or alex@futurefirst.org.uk