Generation UK was established in 2019, and has since grown quickly to establish a key place in the system as a charity delivering innovative, effective education-to-employment programmes. Our mission is to support people facing barriers to employment into jobs that otherwise would be inaccessible to them. Our vehicle to do so is an employment solution centered around profession-specific skills bootcamps – relatively short, intense, professional specific training programmes (4-12 weeks long), with wrap around support, orientated around the needs of employers.
Since launch in 2019 we have successfully supported close to 3,000 people with sector-leading results in terms of job outcomes and impact. Our social impact report, released in September 2023, received wide plaudits for the clear and robust evaluation of impact, as well as the level of results and support detailed in the report.
Generation UK has also established a strong and supportive funding base, including significant contracts with the Department for Education in England, various public sector bodies in Scotland, and a fantastic list of private sector supporters who are mission-aligned and supportive of our work, and future potential. That includes Impetus, who selected Generation from over 160 charities who applied to their Race Equity Fund, with Generation being selected as one of the leading charities in the space with a significant scaling opportunity ahead.
Looking forward, there is much more to do. And the need for our work and services is unfortunately growing. There are >1m unemployed people in the UK. Unemployment is sticky and disproportionately experienced by certain groups with huge variances; young people, ethnic minorities, those with disabilities or without degrees are twice or more as likely to be and/or remain unemployed. There are c.0.8m NEET young people aged <24. And at the same time, there are >1m vacancies, with many new, exciting, well-paid jobs being created in growth sectors; enough to support everyone into work.
Generation seeks to address this paradox.
We do so by building effective pathways between those people that are unemployed, and distanced from the labour market, and the great career opportunities that our employer partners offer.
We are also proud to be part of a global network of not-for-profits, all working under the Generation model and brand, which has now supported over 100,000 learners across 18 countries. Whilst each country is established as an autonomous entity, and led by a local board, we seek to also leverage the strength that comes from global presence, learning, and some shared infrastructure.
In the UK we have been delighted to see the launch of the Department for Educations’ Skills Bootcamp policy, which has £1.5bn pledged over 6 years – enough money to train 400k people. We are also proud to have played some role in the establishment and growth of that policy, having been one of a small number of providers selected to demonstrate and prove the model, before it was scaled up. We are now the largest charity working with the government on this policy, which providers a clear funding platform for our growth and impact for the years ahead.
It is at this moment – of great societal need, and great opportunity for the charity to deliver impact – that Dame Vivian Hunt is looking to appoint a successor. After launching and stewarding the charity over the past 6 years, Dame Vivian Hunt now wishes to appoint a Chair that can lead the charity in the next chapter of Generation’s journey. Over the next 6 years (two terms), the Chair should support significant growth, and change for the organisation, all orientated around maximising and scaling impact.
In the pages that follow you can find out more about the charities work, and the opportunity ahead.
Thank you for your interest in our mission, and we look forward to meeting you.
Dame Vivian Hunt, Chair and Michael Houlihan, CEO