How Bolton Lads & Girls Club is championing opportunities for young people: a Q&A with Emma Hutchinson

Honestly, I didn’t need much persuading. BLGC is a children and young people’s charity - if we’re not championing opportunities that can genuinely change young people’s lives, then I shouldn’t be doing this job, and we shouldn’t be here.

We’re also a well-known brand across Bolton - probably the longest serving and most iconic charity in the borough - so I’m always keen to align us with other strong, values- driven organisations, and the EY Foundation and EY absolutely embody that.

So, for two reasons – one strategic and one based on our core purpose - it made complete sense to get involved.

2.      So, what did you go on to do with us, and what would you say the benefits have been for your organisation?

We’ve mainly been involved in the Impactful Futures programme, where across the years we’ve supported young people with mock interviews, business challenges, leadership panels, and more.

This year was our third year of hosting a cohort for work experience. We started with two young people in the first year, four last year and then agreed to six this year – we get as much from the young people as I hope they get from us over the three days.

We’ve given them projects and tasks that have genuinely benefited BLGC. Last year they were set a marketing task - this is a new service, how do we speak to young people about this? - and we actually took one of their ideas forward and produced a video using the script they’d created. If young people can’t tell us how best to speak to young people, then who can?

In addition to this, working with the EY Foundation gives us the chance to learn from young people outside our borough. Some of the issues they face are the same, some are different, and some things happening in Manchester city centre may well make their way out to Bolton. It almost gives you a heads-up about the challenges our young people might be facing in 12 months’ time.

For me personally, it’s developed me as an individual. My job doesn’t involve regular interaction with young people, so any opportunity I get to do that, whether here or with the EY Foundation, I like to take, because it keeps me grounded. It brings me back to why we do what we do in the first place.

3.      What else do you do to be a youth friendly employer or drive social mobility in your organisation?

We’ve got a generation of young people who’ve grown up without the youth sector offering that existed before the cuts, so many don’t know what youth work is or the difference it can make. That makes it harder to attract them into the sector, which is why being a youth friendly employer matters.

We’ve put in place a pathway at BLGC where young people can come to us as members and join our Young Leaders Programme, a pre-volunteering, preemployment route that gives them an accredited insight into what a career in youth work might look like. If it’s right for them, they can then move into volunteering or employment. We now have a couple of staff who’ve come right through this route and are due to start a youth work qualification with us.

We’ve taken steps to remove barriers in our recruitment process. If someone prefers to submit a video instead of an application form, they can. We offer taster sessions too. Young people can come into the youth club for a couple of evenings and see if the role is for them. We’re very flexible: if a particular way of communicating doesn’t work for someone, we ask what will.

We’ve also had apprentices and hosted work experience placements. Even if a young person comes and thinks, ‘I couldn’t work in this sector’, it still serves a purpose because it helps them understand their interests and next steps. But the thing I’m most proud of is the pathway from member to paid member of staff - it’s us growing our own workforce.

4.      Is there a moment that stands out where you felt your organisation made a real difference to a young person?

We had a social media apprentice who left us about 18 months ago. She’s now very successfully working for a marketing agency in Manchester and still keeps in touch. She taught us as much as we taught her.

For me, that really shows the impact we can have. We provided her with the opportunity to build that skillset and experience that enabled her to progress. As sad as it was to see her move on, that kickstart supported her to take her next step.

5.      What would you say to other employers thinking of advancing their social mobility journey?

If, as an employer, you only recruit people with the same backgrounds, experiences and viewpoints as you, you’re setting yourself up to fail. The more diverse your team is, the more perspectives you bring into decision making, strategy and future direction, and in a country as diverse as ours, organisations that don’t reflect that are really missing out.

At BLGC, our workforce reflects the young people who come through our doors. We want them to be able to see themselves in the staff and volunteers around them and talk to adults who genuinely understand their journey. So, when we recruit, we actively look for people from a wide range of backgrounds, including those from low-income backgrounds or who have faced similar challenges to the young people we support.

If you only employ people just like you, you become very blinkered and tunnel visioned in how you see the world and what you offer - especially in this sector. Actively encouraging diversity makes organisations thrive.

If you're an employer looking to start your social mobility journey or explore how your business can benefit from diverse talent, learn more and get in touch today.