In 2021, the Association of Colleges (AoC) received generous funding from the Pears Foundation’s #iwill fund to help promote youth social action in further education (FE). We’ve since launched an apprenticeship project, which has seen five social action apprentices placed into FE college partnerships around the country. The aim is not just to provide these apprentices with unique personal development opportunities but to empower the wider staff and student bodies at these colleges to implement social change, have an impact their local communities and raise their college profiles in the process.
Kicking off the project
Working in conjunction with the Pears Foundation, we decided that an apprenticeship programme would be the best approach. We’ve already had success in this area, with AoC Sport successfully improving participation in women’s football through another apprenticeship scheme. This seemed like the perfect template for our seeding social action project.
The next step was finding colleges to take part. One requirement for eligibility was that colleges should apply in groups of four. While some applications came from existing college partnerships (through local mergers) other applications required the creation of completely new partnerships between colleges where there had been none before. It was great to see their desire to embed social action bringing these local colleges together.
The apprentices recruited at each college were required to study a Level 3 Youth Worker qualification, which was a practical decision. Youth workers often have to collaborate with young people in underprivileged communities, developing youth voice while managing many challenging situations. Early on, it became clear that this was the most suitable qualification, since these skills align well with social action.
Supporting colleges and apprentices
As AoC’s Senior Projects Manager, part of my role is to oversee the programme. I work closely with college line managers, mentors and the apprentices themselves. This includes an apprenticeship network, once a term, that brings together all five apprentices to reflect on their successes, share best practice and build links between similar projects. With so few of them doing such a niche job, this is a vital support structure.
We’ve also been extremely fortunate to have help from the Edge Foundation. Edge’s Strategy and Partnership Manager provided practical training in areas where the apprentices most needed support. This included discussing what social action involves and developing a pitch to raise awareness among other staff members. We also did some community mapping work, helping apprentices identify social needs in their local areas and finding ways of sparking student interest in these issues.
The impact so far
We’re currently one year into the two-year project but the impact has already been huge. The sheer number of projects the apprentices are managing goes far beyond what we expected. Last year, for instance, Sunderland College held a large winter fair. This involved selling products created by the college’s pathway students. The students led these projects themselves, developing products in areas directly related to their field of study. Not only did this boost their confidence no end, but by donating the profits to charity, it also had a positive impact on the local community.
Meanwhile, students from Leeds College of Building have worked with local construction companies to create community gardens for disadvantaged areas of the city. There have been countless other initiatives, too – from LGBTQ+ projects to food bank projects, and many, many more. The list goes on! And although every project is different, the ripple effect through the colleges and communities has been consistently positive all round.
Beyond the community benefits, the social action apprenticeship programme has also had a direct impact on students’ personal development. In response to the programme, one college has even restructured how they incorporate student voice, inviting young people directly into strategy meetings to share their views. And in testament to the programme’s early success, all the participating colleges are keen to retain their apprentices full-time if they can. Some have already laid plans to make the role permanent.
Maintaining momentum
It’s still early days but our future plan is two-fold. Firstly, we want to sustain our present success within the participating colleges and embed social action into the culture of theses organisations. Secondly, we want share what we’ve learned with other colleges that are just starting their social action journeys. We’ve produced an impact report, case study resource and personal development outline that will be launched in September and shared with the wider college sector.
On top of all this, there are plans for our apprentices and line managers to attend the next AoC annual conference. The aim is for them to offer attending delegates an honest appraisal and practical advice about how best to seed student-led social action initiatives. In the longer term, my hope is that social action becomes a commonplace aspect of further education. And although there’s some way to go, based on what we’ve achieved so far, I’m very hopeful.
Alyson Hastie is Senior Projects Manager at the Association of Colleges