Celebrating place-based social mobility initiatives with the Steve Morgan Foundation

The Social Mobility Commission recently joined the Steve Morgan Foundation for their 25th Anniversary Conference to celebrate the foundation’s achievements and discuss how improving social mobility across the UK requires locally-led, place-based initiatives.

At the conference, The Social Mobility Commission co-hosted a workshop with the Youth Futures Foundation and Liverpool FC Foundation, looking at young people’s journeys into employment ‘From Potential to Profession‘. 

The workshop addressed drivers behind high unemployment, with nearly a million young people Not in Education, Employment or Training (NEETs), labour market weaknesses and unequal access to work opportunities. Attendees of the workshop discussed on-the-ground experience and recommendations for ways to help accelerate young people’s potential, unlock talent and boost local prosperity, including:

• Encouraging better information sharing between organisations
• Providing more careers and employment education from primary school
• Highlighting benefits of both vocational and university-based education 

The Steve Morgan Foundation invests in projects for communities across Merseyside, North Wales, Cheshire and North Shropshire. Earlier in the year, the Social Mobility Commission and the Foundation met to discuss the importance of taking a place-based approach to improving social mobility outcomes. 

The Social Mobility Commission’s Regional Insights report highlights the effectiveness of locally led initiatives. Community run and grass roots initiatives often see stronger uptake and consistent engagement from residents as they are more trusted than ‘central services’. 

The Foundation puts place-based approaches into practice by investing in initiatives that use its local knowledge to build strong, lasting partnerships with local stakeholders. An example the Commission highlighted in the Regional Insights report was Cradle 2 Career. A programme aimed at children and young people in several areas across the Liverpool City Region, including North Birkenhead, one of Liverpool’s most deprived areas. It brings together 43 partner organisations and 17 professionals in a community-based team that work together to support 9,000 residents to improve educational attainment, provide SEND support and social care improvements. 

Read more about the Social Mobility Commission’s place-based approach in our Regional Insights report.

Read more about the Steve Morgan Foundation and the anniversary conference on their website.