The EY Foundation is an independent UK charity that has supported over 18,000 young people who face significant barriers to employment since 2014. The Foundation brings young people and employers together to close the skills gap between UK business and hidden talent. In the next ten years their aim is to enable all young people on Free School Meals to have employment and earnings potential that is equitable to other young people in the UK.

Smart Futures is a 10-month programme which includes paid work experience, interactive employability skills training and mentoring for those in Year 12 or S5 in Scotland. As a key partner Pollen Street will be working with the EY foundation to launch the new programme that gives students paid 2-week internship from late July – early August. In the first week, students participate in employability skills-based sessions, covering topics to make them more employable and widen their understanding of the working world. During the second week students will spend time with employers to obtain experience working on real life projects and gaining real, valuable work experience.

At the end of the programme students will achieve an accredited qualification from the ILM. Students will also be allocated a mentor, someone that is able to commit to a 6-month relationship meeting with them at least 1 hour each month.

Gemma Pullinger, Chief People Officer, commented: “A core value at Pollen Street is Caring. One of our commitments as part of this is to helping create a more diverse financial services industry. We are excited to partner with the EY Foundation on this new programme to help more young people gain experience and skills to set them up for the working world.”