"Since the pandemic, our role as mentors has become even more crucial with children facing isolation, uncertainty and disruption to their education. One of my pupils captured the essence of what City Year brings. He said, ‘It’s the first time I’ve felt part of something.’
Creating a community that empowers children and young people to succeed
This report showcases City Year UK’s ability to partner with schools across some of our most disadvantaged communities so that together, we can pass those children a lifeline. We’ll introduce you to some of the extraordinary young people who join us as mentors and who, like Will, enable those children to succeed through “the power of connection and belonging”. As tutors and role models they volunteer every day to make a difference to children furthest from opportunity and over a year, that commitment adds up. In 2023 to 2024, 140,000 extra hours of resource and capacity from our mentors resulted in happier children, better behaviour, higher attendance and stronger academic and social and emotional skills across 18 schools in London, Greater Manchester and the West Midlands.
As Will alludes to, our volunteers also benefit from our work. At a time when young people’s interest in social action appears to be in decline, our mentors, drawn from all backgrounds, are bucking the trend. They recognise that giving back gives them a feeling of fulfilment, while front-line experience, together with our leadership and development programme, expands their sense of who they are and what they want to be. They leave City Year UK not only work-ready but with the knowledge that they can change the world. The proof is in the difference they have already made; to children, their community and their own lives.
Since 2009, more than 1,800 young people have dedicated over 2.5 million hours through City Year UK. They’ve coached and mentored 17,000 children to improve their life chances and have had an impact on thousands more; in class and extra-curricular clubs, offering a welcoming smile at the school gate or simply being someone to talk to at breaktime. Typically, over 90% of our mentors are in work or education within three months of finishing City Year UK, and continue to be so for at least 12 months more.
Behind this immense achievement is a broad community of supporters and donors who are vital to our impact. This is our opportunity to say a heartfelt thank you to you all and to encourage more to join us. 15 years on, the need for our work remains evermore urgent and we have ambitious plans to reach many more children and young people across more cities in the UK.
Yours in service,
Matthew Davies, Chair of the Board of the Trustees
Kevin Munday, Chief Executive
An Overview of Our Impact 2023-2024
At the heart of City Year UK is a community founded on reciprocal benefit. Through nurturing children’s talents, our young people discover and develop their own.
Being a mentor is such an immersive and impactful role [...]. It’s made me more confident in a variety of transferable skills: being a self-starter, collaborating on projects, as well as being open-minded to feedback and creativity, plus so much more!"
City Year Mentor 2023-24
Empowering children to succeed
In 2023-24, we partnered with 18 schools serving some of the UK’s most disadvantaged communities across London, the West Midlands and Greater Manchester.
In 2023-24, we recruited 119 diverse 18 to 25-year-olds to volunteer as City Year Mentors (96 full-time mentors, 19 mentors on part-time pilot & 4 school service leaders on paid placements with UK Year of Service (starting April 2024)
We are proud to be part of a bigger picture of social action within our local communities. All our young people develop and lead their own social action project during their City Year, alongside their role in school.
"I had a student in Year 11 who at the start of the year did not say a single word to me. At our first mentoring session I got nothing, just a nod of the head at one point. I thought,
ok, this is going to be hard but I persisted. [...] Towards the end of the year, she did make it in by Period 1, which I’m going to take as a win, and her attendance was above 90% so she did absolutely amazingly. On her last day, she sent me an email."
The City Year mentors brought something different - a real youthful intensity. They developed extra capacity, made a significant difference to the students and made a positive contribution to school life. The whole partnership was excellent and added something extra to our school."
Headteacher Partner school
Future Leaders: Mabinty's story
"As I had just finished school and wasn’t yet sure what I wanted to do before university, I decided that City Year would be an excellent opportunity. I loved the organisations’ priorities, goals and values. Although I didn’t have a mentor, I did experience City Year in my school. Their value was clear through the way students chose to approach them and I wanted to be a part of that. I was also keen to champion for students like me to be their best selves."
This experience from City Year has opened lots of doors for the future.”
City Year Mentor 2023-24
Engaging partnerships: Kacia's story
"When I first found out about the career mentoring programme that City Year offers, I was both excited and nervous at the prospect of having the opportunity. Going into City Year I knew I had a passion for education and helping others but I did not have a clear idea of what I wanted my future to look like and I felt overwhelmed by the thought of entering the working world. I was soon lucky enough to be paired with Clare."
We thank all our supporters during the year, to whom we are deeply grateful:
Akin
Bain Capital
Bank of America
Baron Davenport Charity
The BKL Foundation
CVC Capital Partners Limited
Danaher Foundation
DHL UK Foundation
EBM Charitable Trust
The Eveson Charitable Trust
Garfield Weston Foundation
Goldman Sachs Gives
Henry Oldfield Trust
Howden
John Armitage Trust
John Scott Charitable Trust
Joseph Strong Frazer Trust
Michael Marsh Charitable Trust
National Citizens Service
The Portal Trust
Souter Charitable Trust
St James’s Place Charitable Foundation
Swire Charitable Trust
The Roger & Douglas Turner Charitable Trust
The Vertex Foundation
UBS Group
Financial review
This year, we have delivered City Year UK’s programme in 21 schools across three sites and although the fundraising context remains challenging, we were successful in continuing to grow our reserves.
The Statement of Financial Activities show the impact of our careful financial management, with a surplus for the year ended 31 July 2024 of £22,144. This is the result of total incoming resources of £2,639,983 net of total resources expended of £2,617,839. Unrestricted funds at the year end were £472,127 and restricted funds were nil.
Download the full PDF version of the report and financial statements here
We want to say a big thank you to our donors, partners, staff and everyone who has provided, and continues to provide, such vital support for our organisation.
