Article posted by on Jan 13, 2022
With 2022 in full swing, we are about to embark on our third year of working with the award-winning education charity, Future Frontiers, and we couldn’t be prouder to be involved.
If you haven’t heard of Future Frontiers before, let us just tell you a bit about the charity. Young people from disadvantaged backgrounds are supported to fulfil their potential at school and when transitioning to education, employment or training at age 16 & 18. The charity does this through an intensive programme of 1:1 coaching delivered by business professionals (that’s where we come in) and giving students access to professional role models in their chosen industries.
We began working with Future Frontiers in 2019 as part of our Cobalt Cares philosophy and our desire to give something back to the local community. Our consultants receive in-depth training from the charity before the sessions with the students begin. Each student on the programme receives four sessions with their dedicated Cobaltian over 4 weeks, and on the final session they get the chance to speak to a professional (sourced by Cobalt) in a job they would like to work in. We were even able to carry on our support to this important charity throughout the pandemic by switching to virtual coaching sessions with the students, which meant that no one missed out.
People from right across the Cobalt business have been involved, with almost half of our London office taking part, including our MD, Marcus Davies Bateman. As well as the benefit to the students in helping them to gain more confidence and achieve their career ambitions, we also felt it would be a rewarding experience for our staff, and we weren’t wrong: 100% of Cobaltians agree that participating in the programme has been highly rewarding for them!
One Cobaltian in particular who feels she has benefitted hugely from the programme is Rebecca Mawer. She’s always had a passion for helping people – after all, it’s what led to her working in recruitment. Since volunteering as a coach with Future Frontiers, Rebecca has improved her own skills, and has also been given additional responsibility at Cobalt. Rebecca feels she gained so much from the volunteering:
"I’ve gained new skills and felt the rewards of seeing my impact and expertise affect someone else. It’s all been huge for me."
We have 12 Cobaltians signed up for the next 4-week programme, which kicks off in January 2022. We can’t wait to get started and to work with the next bunch of bright and ambitious individuals!
To find out more about Future Frontiers, visit: https://www.futurefrontiers.org.uk/
If we sound like the sort of company you’d like to work for, we’re always on the lookout for new people to join the Cobalt family – you can find out more and apply here.