By allowing young people to set their own aims and aspirations we are exploring a new way of supporting them and making an investment in their future. One of the Foyers currently trialling the Talent Bonds recently held a meeting in which four residents on applied for money from bond.
The young people had been given the skills to reflect on their own talents and obstacles in order to positively plan using the money.
* Names and other identifiers have been used anonymized
(1) Applied for funding to undertake Spray Tanning Training and purchase all the necessary equipment. They had done a lot of research and used the digital training they had received to set up a Facebook page and website.
Identifying possible future challenges is a key skill in personal and economic resilience; (1) is also applying for funding from ButtleUK to train as a Nail / Beauty Technician to diversify their talents and working assets.
The Talent Bond paid out an investment of £296; small by many standards and compared to the cost of traditional employability schemes. But it will help this young person create opportunities for themselves. The deal and additional support as part of the Talent Bond has focussed (1) on making their business a success.
(2) Was a young man applying for £400 to undertake an intensive course of driving lessons. For many jobs a driving licence is an essential working asset that many young people find themselves in debt struggling to acquire. (2) Has researched, reached out and got a job offer if he passes the test. (2) Will take over a window cleaning round and build his own round at the same time.
(3) Has been using their talents making a guitar by hand and received £399.68 to complete it. (3) Will use it as a prototype to draw further investment into his business from the Prince’s trust, which will hopefully lead to sustainability and independence.
(4) like (2) requested £400 for driving lessons, they have an is to become an estate Agent and a licence is needed for even entry work experience. The panel felt this was a good investment in (4’s) employability but that they needed to do more research to get the best value. This shows the importance not just of making a monetary investment in a young person but preparing them to make the most of it; (4) will receive additional support and likely reapply in the next round.
The Foyer’s mentoring team are looking forward to the next round of applications and how these young people get on. We wish them good luck.
If you would like to know more about the benefits of a Talent Bond approach for you or your organisation, or you would like to support a young person’s talents, contact inbox@foyer.net
Keep a look out for future news and case studies in the e-bulletin and online
February 11, 2013 at 9:02 am
I actually was basically seeking for plans for my website and stumbled
upon your article, “Talent Bonds are an
embodiment of our positive investment in young people
The Foyer Federation Open Talent”, would you mind in the event that I make use of a handful of of your own ideas?
Many thanks -Melisa
February 11, 2013 at 10:20 am
Hi Melisa, thanks for your interest. We want to encourage people to make positive investments in young people using and to spread and learn from the best models for doing this. Let us know how you get on and if you’d like a more detailed discussion on Talent Bonds then you might want to email inbox@foyer.net I’ll keep track of your email and let you know about any updates. You may also like to sign up to our mailing list