Following a successful internship programme last year the Jack Petchey Foundation has taken the bold step of more than doubling funding to now offer 20 youth charities the chance to appoint paid interns for an entire year. This investment amounts to £450,000 over the year! The Foundation aims to tackle the difficulty young people have getting into employment whilst helping charities attract dynamic individuals who could become the sector’s future leaders.

Each successful charity will be given funding to pay the London Living Wage for an entire year and an additional £1,000 personal training budget can be applied for to help young people develop the skills needed to succeed.

The programme will enable charities to develop and deliver work to support young people that they would not otherwise have the resources to do. The Jack Petchey Foundation will also offer a professional mentor to offer independent advice and guidance to the young interns as they start their careers. To help charities develop their staff further the Foundation will support the interns’ managers through training to help them develop as inspirational leaders.

The start of the programme will see a residential training conference where all 20 interns and their line managers will be brought together and there will be a further review conference and training opportunities throughout the year. Charities can apply from now until Friday 21st June by going to https://www.jackpetcheyfoundation.org.uk/opportunities/internships/.

Toby Beazley is Operations and Finance Lead at Regenerate a charity that works with young people on a number of estates in SW London. Toby said “We have found the internship incredibly valuable over the last year. I’ve seen many programmes but this one is unique. So many internships are underpaid or short term so interns have to find additional jobs at weekends or evenings to get by. By offering a paid internship for an entire year we were able to appeal to a large number of applicants. It was a real investment opportunity for both parties that helped us progress as an organisation and gave our intern the opportunity to be involved in every part of the charity – from fundraising to youth work to accounts and safeguarding. The training pot on top of this meant we could offer opportunities we could otherwise not afford to do, life-changing experiences that really developed our intern’s skills and confidence.”

Current intern, Mirza Baig, Administration and Communications Assistant at CARAS (Community Action for Refugees and Asylum Seekers) said “The Jack Petchey Foundation’s internship offered me a ray of hope, when I was working as a barista to make ends meet and volunteering in the sector that I always wanted to work in. I could not find a way to take my next career step to follow to my aspirations and slowly it was making my work life feel meaningless.

The Foundation provided me with a miraculous opportunity to follow my dream of working within the charity sector. Now I am supporting my own community, gaining skills and developing my professionalism in a paid role with a phenomenal team.”

Trudy Kilcullen MBE, CEO of the Jack Petchey Foundation said “We support young people and youth organisations, so it makes sense to match talented young people with youth charities who have a real impact – rather than lose them to the corporate sector. By funding internships, mentoring and training, we will have a positive impact not only on the interns themselves, but on the youth sector, and on the young people the sector supports. It is an innovative solution for all!” 

Interested in our paid internship opportunities? Click here to find out more information about the programme.

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