Give underserved young people a fair shot at work

Aim

Help young people from lower socioeconomic backgrounds get the training, support and opportunities they need to start their careers.

“GoodWork showed me there are people who care, and it’s completely changed what’s possible for me.”

Farhan, Programme Graduate

The Problem 

The job market isn’t built for young people from less privileged backgrounds. The evidence is clear - those from lower socioeconomic backgrounds are less likely to succeed at school and university, and more likely to face unemployment.

Many of these young people face multiple barriers to work - including disability, racial discrimination, experience in the care system or homelessness.

Nearly one million young people in the UK are currently not earning or learning - the highest level in a decade - yet there’s not nearly enough provision to help them access fairly paid work.

Our Solution

GoodWork is a registered charity, empowering young people with the confidence, skills and networks needed to launch their careers, while working with employers to make the systems change needed for underrepresented talent to thrive.

Our Early Careers Programme prepares young adults for the world of work, through training, work experience and one-to-one support. The young people we work with have typically left education without the qualifications or connections they need to access sustainable, fulfilling employment. They have plenty of potential, but need our help to kickstart their careers.

We're also proud to advocate for more inclusive and accessible approaches to entry-level hiring. In a world of work where around three-fifths (61%) of internships are unpaid and employers routinely use degrees as a key indicator of potential, we know how important it is to rethink how we identify talent.

Siham’s story explains how we help

When we first met Siham, she wasn’t sure what area of work she wanted to go into. Once Siham joined our programme, we discussed her career goals and put her forward for a Supply Chain Internship at Wild - one of our Corporate Partners.

She was soon preparing for an interview and, shortly after, landed an internship offer. Siham is just one of four people in the GoodWork community who have been hired by Wild.

“It’s changed the trajectory my life. Now I feel like I have people around me to support with any questions and worries. I’m more certain of what I want and the programme has enhanced my confidence.”

Our impact

Here’s a snapshot of what we’ve achieved:

• 100+ young people supported through our programmes since we opened our doors in 2022
• 94% of young people from our last cohort felt more confident navigating the jobs market
• Over 75% of young people move into education or employment after completing our programme

We want to DOUBLE our impact in 2026. But we can't do it without you.

Why we're crowdfunding

We want to support as many young people as we can. In just three years, we’ve supported over 100 young people and delivered ~2000 hours of employability training. But the demand for our support consistently grows, which is why we need your help.

We've set an ambitious goal to DOUBLE the number of young people we've helped to 200. Our programmes are designed for those facing multiple barriers to employment - young people who are often excluded from other support. We cover travel costs (including for those living on the outskirts of London), have no academic requirements, and offer support for young people balancing work commitments.

We deliver this support through two programmes, each designed for slightly different needs. 

• Our Core Programme is more intensive, in-person at our London Community Hub, and best suited to those with no degree or little to no work experience. 
• Our Online Programme allows us to reach young people across the UK and offers lighter touch support for graduates or those with some work experience.

The programmes both last six months and provide training, one-to-one support, mentorship and access to fairly paid professional opportunities.

How you can help

Every donation helps us to deliver our programmes and ensure that young people have what they need to succeed.

Here's an idea of what your contribution might help us to fund:

• £8.90 could cover the return journey for a young person to attend a job interview
• £38 covers two hours of 1:1 support - helping a young person improve their CV or practice interview questions
• £243 buys a laptop that can be used by a young person to work on their CV and job applications
• £545 admin cost for a year of volunteer DBS checks
• £1,658 covers one month of rent at our Community Hub
• £3,314 funds the train and bus travel costs for an entire cohort (25 people) attending over six months

If you can help us reach this goal, either by donating or by sharing our Crowdfunder with others, we'd be incredibly grateful.

Thank you!

This project successfully funded on 19th December 2025