DATA & REPORTS
ZENOBIA SCHOLARS, 2022-23
Zenobia Scholars is a student-designed project to assist 16-18 year old marginalised minority ethnic young women in Brent in pursuing STEM careers in higher education as they leave school. Many of the participants are refugees, and all have learned English as a second language since arriving in the UK. Now, living in Brent, they live in an area in the top 10% of deprivation, with a lack of schemes to provide soft skills training or support in securing their next steps.
Our programme helps to develop soft skills – primarily communication and confidence – as well as providing advice to help discover career paths, interests and small group support to ensure each participant has a primary and backup plan for their future. We work with universities, employers and facilitators to make sure specific skills and grades are optimised and participants are truly prepared for their future.. As well as developing vital employability skills and ambition, Zenobia Scholars looks to encourage young women to commit to education by demonstrating the links between passion, qualification, and career.
"I’ve been working at The Crest Academy for seven years. In those years we’ve had several different organisations which have come through the school. I can see that The Us Charitable Trust and their team is unique to others which have come and given up on us. They have not given up and have made a great impact on our students and staff."
Lorna Jules, KS5 Pastoral Lead, The Crest Academy
CAREERS FAIR, 2023
In March 2023, on National Careers Week, the Us Charitable Trust facilitated two in-school careers fairs at Newman Catholic College and The Crest Academy. The fairs were attended by employers from a variety of industries ranging from healthcare to engineering to sport and all employers had live vacancies and opportunities the young people could benefit from. Over 1500 students attended across the two days, reaching students from ages 12 to 18 across both schools.
The aim was to excite young people about their future and provide them with practical support to achieve their goals. On the day, the students could not only understand more about a huge range of careers but take tangible steps to progress towards that industry.
"The careers fair was very useful and made me think about other options for the future such as being an air pilot. I feel like I learned a lot that day."
Student Testimonial from Careers Fair Report 2023
APPRENTICESHIP MORNING, 2023
On 8th and 9th February, the Us Charitable Trust held apprenticeship mornings at two schools in Northwest London to introduce over 300 students to the powerful impact of apprenticeships as alternatives to college and university alike. Students between the ages of 14 and 18 had access to a range of employers covering a variety of apprenticeship areas in the form of small-group seminars. Students actively considering the apprenticeship option gained further support through application support and mock interviews with employers.
"We are so grateful for the organisation, flexibility and work ethic demonstrated by both Tiffany and Matt in organising the 6th Form Apprenticeship Day at Crest Academy. The quality of both the sessions and external speakers is what we have come to expect from The Us Trust. The Y12 students found it a valuable introduction to apprenticeships and the select Y13 students found both the mock interviews and the application support insightful and very helpful. All in all, a great day!"
Sural Bhanshaly, Head of Sixth Form, The Crest Academy
IMPACT REPORT 2022
Words cannot express how proud the Us team are of our young people's achievements and of the advanced progression we have had as a team and organisation this year. 2022 has been an incredible journey for us all. With the expansion of the team, we have been able to reach more young people impact on more lives.
Future Voice, Youth Ambassadors, Zenobia Scholars and extra-curricular clubs are being delivered regularly in our partner schools. With the focus being on enhancing transferable skills in every programme we delivery. We hope to equip our young people with the skills to build themselves a future they deserve.
"Miss, I am where I am today because of you. Some people did not believe I could do it. I also felt like I could not do it. But now look at me! I am so proud of myself and I thank God every day for bringing you to me. You have changed my life."
Student Testimonial from Impact Report 2022
INDUSTRY CONFERENCES, 2022
Across October and November 2022, The Us Charitable Trust facilitated Industry Conferences at The Crest Academy and Newman Catholic College reaching over 300 marginalised 16 to 18 year olds. The conference introduced young people to a range of industries spanning healthcare, finance, tech, entrepreneurship, construction, government, and creative industries. As well as helping inform young people on the different industries available to them, the conferences further looked to educate attendees on the varying routes to success in each industry.
The sessions consisted of brief presentations from each of the speakers based on their own career paths, before moving to breakout rooms with young people particularly interested in each industry to enable a more tailored Q&A session to their industries.
Attendees of the 2022 Industry Conferences said:
95%
of attendees said they found the morning helpful
93%
of attendees said they are now considering pathways they didn't previously know about
86%
of attendees said they now feel more confident and excited about their future
The Us Charitable Trust Summer Camp looks to enrich the lives of marginalised young people in North West London throughout their school holidays. We provide enriching educational activities, a space to socialise and make new friends, and healthy, nutritional meals for young people and their families.
This year, we teamed up with the Syria Summer Camp in Newman Catholic College to provide for more than thirty young people aged 10 to 15. The camp is deeply embedded in local communities with over 80 marginalised, recently arrived or refugee attendees aged between 4 and 18 Our collaboration ensured we were reaching the young people who needed our services most while still offering a jam-packed programme of activities.
SUMMER CAMP, 2022
Participants at the 2022 Summer Camp said:
97%
of participants say they feel the camp improved their mental health and wellbeing
of participants said they enjoyed spending time with their friends
100%
100%
of participants said they would come back next year
100%
of participants said they enjoyed or really enjoyed the summer camp
Future Voice has been running across two schools in the 2021-22 academic year, working with over 250 students in Year 12 and 13. It is a comprehensive, student- designed careers and personal development package which seeks to improve quality of life while at school, and prepare for life after.
We look to inform, equip and support students in discovering and achieving their goals using over a decade of experience in the sector. We support schools by increasing capacity to enable weekly one-on-one mentoring to ensure no student slips through the net. Future Voice aligns curriculum-based knowledge with practical experiences to introduce students to a range of industries and career paths. We aim to give every student the tools to make a considered and informed decision for their next steps and leave school confidently.
FUTURE VOICE, 2021-22
"If it wasn’t for Matt and Tiffany, I can confidently say that I would not be where I am now. I’ve been given many opportunities ranging from exploring a university that excels in photography, all the way to being accepted for one of the most prestigious offers of work experience in the country; in this case it is working for the marketing team at Disney+. They have been wonderfully helpful, teaching me the necessities of how to perform under pressure in interviews and how to engage with the interviewer. They also have organised a giant careers fair, leading to hundreds of open doors for all our students. My friends and I appreciate this so much and I genuinely cannot express how thankful and grateful we are to Matt and Tiffany."
Future Voice Participant
CAREERS FAIR, THE CREST ACADEMY, 2022
In May 2022, The US Charitable Trust facilitated a successful careers fair at The Crest Academy for over 700 students aged 14-18, proving a huge success for attendees and employers alike. Students from Year 8 to Sixth Form had a chance to speak to employers, charities, apprenticeship providers, teams from top universities and so much more.
The aim was to excite young people about their future and provide them with practical support to achieve their goals. On the day, the students could not only understand more about a huge range of careers but take tangible steps to progress towards that industry. Many of the employers offered access to sign up for fully subsidised places on training and work experience opportunities or camps and courses happening over the summer holidays.
“The careers fair was a triumph. The students were so excited and felt so valued…This is going to have such an effect on the students. The short-term win is that the students know we care about them and secondly, when students know that the goal of being in school is to get a career they will enjoy,
they work so much harder.”
Oliver Elliott - Head of Sixth Form at Crest Academy, on their Careers Fair
ZENOBIA SCHOLARS, 2021-22
Zenobia Scholars is a student-designed project to assist 16-18 year old marginalised minority ethnic young women in Brent in pursuing STEM careers in higher education as they leave school. Now, living in Brent, they live in an area in the top 10% of deprivation, with a lack of schemes to provide soft skills training or support in securing their next steps.
Our programme helps to develop soft skills – primarily communication and confidence – as well as providing mentorship to help discover career paths, interests and mentoring to ensure each participant has a primary and backup plan for their future. We work with universities, employers and a team of female-led mentors through the Bridging Project to make sure specific skills and grades are optimised and university places are secured through UCAS.
95%
When we first designed Zenobia Scholars, we found:
of young woman respondants felt they needed help with UCAS.
90%
of young woman respondants were worried about achieving sufficient grades for a university offer
Over the course of Zenobia Scholars...
10% 100%
start
end
of participants feel confident in their future
57% 100%
start
end
of participants find school interesting
60% 97%
start
end
of participants are sure about the field they want to pursue
20% 97%
start
end
of participants say they are proud of themselves
100%
end
hold an offer for their next steps
SUMMER CAMP, 2021
After the success of the summer camp in 2020, we were asked by our Youth Panel to run one again this year. Though the young people had more continuous schooling during 2021, it was still far from ‘normal’. Bubbles in school meant socialising was limited and many were suffering from the ongoing effects of the pandemic: grief, trauma, economic uncertainty and mental health problems, particularly anxiety about the future.
Our Youth Conference held in June 2021 helped inform our response. We looked at Mental Health, Identity, Relationships and Consent and Careers. We’ve seen the numbers of English as an Additional Language (EAL) students rise significantly, from about 40% in 2018 to 90% in some age groups in 2021.
Read the US Charitable Trust annual report 2018 - 2020 by clicking on the image below:
Over the course of the 2021 Summer Camp...
10% 90%
start
end
of participants say they find school interesting
30% 80%
start
end
of participants say they have lots of good ideas
20% 75%
start
end
of participants say they are proud of themselves
10% 75%
start
end
of participants say they are socially comfortable and supported
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YOUTH CONFERENCE, 2021
We wanted the chance to give our young people a voice, to create a space where they could share their thoughts with us; their hopes, fears and dreams. We also wanted to find out how we could help. Where do they see themselves in five years’ time and what support do they need to get there?
The Conference was held at Newman Catholic College, Brent and ran over two days, divided by gender for discussion of some sensitive subjects. Our participants were aged 16-19. All of them use English as an Additional Language (EAL). We explored the subjects in different sessions led by experienced practitioners. We took detailed notes of discussion, filmed sections with consent and also received a more detailed questionnaire from each student for data.
"I think at times the conversations were opening students up to being vulnerable and hearing similar ideas shared by their peers gave them confidence to speak up about experiences of racism and space to consider the most important aspects of themselves. Overall it was a rich workshop on both days and it really felt like we turned on some metaphorical light bulbs!"
Georgina Bednar - No Ordinary Experience, Youth Conference 2021
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CHRISTMAS AT NEWMAN, 2020
Christmas food parcels were a great success, with more than 50 given to young people and their families. Due to the pandemic, it has been an even harder year for many families. The US Charity team contacted family and friends asking them to donate money to this incredible cause.
We partnered with Glaxo Smith Klein and Young Brent Foundation in providing sports equipment, toothbrushes and toothpaste for our packages. The teamwork was fantastic with the help of our alumni network. We are so grateful for all the generous donations and it is heart-warming to know that in such little time, we all came together and to spread the happiness and put a smile on young people’s faces.
Over the course of the 2019 Debate and Public Speaking programme...
80%
of participants say they feel they improved their time management and became more organised
80%
of participants say they feel like they belong to a community
100%
of participants say they feel like they improved their public speaking skills
90%
of participants say they feel like they gained an increased sense of wellbeing and happiness
100%
of participants say they feel like they developed better knowledge of current affairs
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IMPACT REPORTING 2018-2020
2020 was an incredibly challenging year for everyone, but particularly so for young people.
Our participants were already deemed ‘at-risk’ and economically disadvantaged. Research has shown lockdown affected poorer sections of society disproportionally in terms of physical and mental health, domestic abuse and access to resources. Brent was the worst effected borough in London, with 36 people dying in our immediate ward.
US was lucky to maintain communication with a percentage of our students during lock down and able to learn from them. It is vital we make sure that they know where to reach out to help and feel supported.
With this in mind, the US Charitable Trust kept a positive mind-set and did our best in supporting our young people in providing activities throughout 2020. The 2020 summer programme included a variation of activities which aimed to promote wellbeing and to develop transferable skills. Alongside our other programmes, we hope this encourages a positive attitude and skill-set ready for employment when they leave school.
This report covers our emergency lockdown response, our 2020 Summer Camp, our 2019 Debate and Public Speaking programme, our 2019 Urban Survival Programme, our October 2020 Half Term Youth Conference and programmes on set design, media and podcasting.