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Shared impact: spotlight on The Vertex Foundation

Back to Impact Report 2019-2021

At City Year UK we share our impact with our partners and our ongoing collaboration with The Vertex Foundation is a case in point, summed up by Katherine Jensen, Executive Director:  “The Vertex Foundation is committed to inspiring and equipping pupils to become the next generation of innovators. We share City Year UK’s passion for making a meaningful difference in the lives of the pupils they serve.”

Since February 2020, the Foundation has backed three school teams in London, enabling 18 City Year Mentors to give 30,000 hours and reach over 2,700 pupils.  More than 3,500 of those hours were targeted at one-to-one coaching for 180 pupils furthest from opportunity.

In addition, the partnership has supported our City Year Mentor and Careers Pathways programme, developing recruitment and career opportunities for young adults post City Year, and has led to the roll out of a new digital recruitment campaign.  In 2020-21, despite the campaign having to move wholly online, we were able to recruit 166 City Year Mentors, the largest number in our history and a third more than the previous year.

In 2020-21, 105 Vertex employees gave their time to support City Year UK:

  • 60 employees created decorated pencil cases filled with stationary for more than 360 pupils affected by learning loss at partner schools in Birmingham and London.
  • 21 employees delivered a workshop on leadership skills to 130 City Year Mentors and helped at our Mock Interview Day, interviewing 19 volunteers.
  • 15 employees gave 10 months of career mentoring to our volunteers. Known as ‘Bridge Builders’, they offered ongoing advice and support. 6 were nominated for ‘Bridge Builder of the Year’ across our three regions, with a Vertex volunteer being awarded the title in Birmingham.
  • senior Vertex staff spoke at our Learning from Leaders events, sharing their experiences and expertise with our volunteers.
  • 5 employees attended Breakfast of Champions events, helping volunteers improve their networking and public speaking skills.
National Strategic Partners
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National Partners
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