£1mn Sir Alec Reed Prize awarded to UK Youth
Melanie May | 4 December 2024 | News
The Reed Foundation, which owns 18% of the Reed Group, created the £1 million ‘Sir Alec Reed Prize’ in celebration of its Founder, Sir Alec Reed’s 90th birthday and Reed’s 65th year in business.
It was designed to fund innovation and new approaches to help young people experiencing poor mental health better secure and keep employment. The Reed Foundation has announced today that it is awarding the prize to UK Youth.
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Alex Chapman, Chair of The Reed Foundation, said:
“Statistics show that young people who are experiencing poor mental health are more likely to be out of work than their healthy peers. With the number of young people experiencing poor mental health rising, myself, the trustees and Sir Alec felt very strongly that this was something we wanted to address, and support, through the Sir Alec Reed Prize.
“There is an estimated 576,000 economically inactive young people, aged 16 to 24, who are NEET (not in employment, education or training),and this is something we’re dedicated to addressing.”
More than 20 charities were invited to apply for the Reed Foundation prize. Bids were assessed by the foundation’s trustees who liaised with an advisory panel of young people who have experienced poor mental health and joblessness, as well as mental health practitioners, commissioning and policy experts and bestselling writer and mental health campaigner Rachel Kelly.
Vicky Browning, UK Youth interim Chief Executive Officer, said:
“We’re honoured and excited to have been awarded this prize from The Reed Foundation. We know from our existing programmes that experiencing poor mental health remains one of the greatest and most consistent barriers to young people entering and remaining in employment. It is vital young people get the early help they need to thrive, particularly in terms of mental health.
“In a sector that’s incredibly under-funded, £1 million is game-changing. This will allow us to broaden our scope to empower young people and potentially transform their lives through the support we will now be able to extend to them. Working together across sectors and services, including youth workers, is key to supporting young people.”
With the funding, UK Youth will develop a new programme in partnership with young people, youth workers and employers, which will support young people experiencing poor mental health to secure and sustain employment. The programme will include workshop sessions delivered by youth workers and young people themselves, professional mentoring, internships and work placements. UK Youth will also work with employers to make the workplace environment and culture more appropriate and supportive of young people with poor mental health.
To further celebrate Sir Alec’s 90th birthday and Reed’s 65th anniversary, the Reed Foundation has been donating £10,000 every week for a year to support 52 different charities, nominated by an employee chosen at random. By April 2025, it will have donated more than £1.5mn.
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About Melanie May
Melanie May is a journalist and copywriter specialising in writing both for and about the charity and marketing services sectors since 2001. She can be reached via thepurplepim.com.