Pathways to Work - improving employment opportunities

The K+C Foundation Pathways to Work panel have selected 8 projects which we will fund over the next 3 years to support K+C residents into meaningful work

Our 2024 research report, ‘Poverty and Prosperity in Kensington + Chelsea: A Deepening Divide’, showed that residents of K+C continue to be affected by a number of employment related challenges. Not only does the borough have relatively high unemployment rates, but many residents find that work is not necessarily a route out of poverty, with wages insufficient to meet high living costs. 

Over the next three years, we will be investing £250,000 per year in local projects to tackle these issues through our Pathways to Work fund. The aims of the fund are:

  • To increase access to viable and sustainable employment for K+C residents who are unemployed or under-employed
  • To remove barriers to employment for local residents, increasing their skills, opportunities and readiness to work

We followed a participatory grantmaking model whereby a panel of 10 local residents with lived experience of employment challenges set the detailed criteria and decided which projects to support based on their assessment of the applications. 

Here are the funded projects:

  • Neighbourhood Doulas – targeted doula training and employment pathways for 15 women in K&C annually, with a focus on single mothers, non-English speakers, and women returning to work.
  • Earls Court Youth Club – providing 25 young K&C residents every year with one-to-one support, mentoring, workplace experiences and apprenticeship preparation as well as other wraparound support, for young people facing significant barriers to opportunity.
  • Becauze – working with 12 residents annually, including young people and neurodiverse adults, particularly those navigating the justice system, supporting them to gain paid hospitality experience and accredited qualifications in food safety and barista skills.
  • Minds United Sports Club – a community sports club supporting adults who face barriers to employment due to mental ill health, disability, low confidence, and limited qualifications. This project will support 35 K&C residents through a structured volunteer-to-work programme gaining skills, qualifications, work experience and paid employment.
  • Volunteer Centre K&C – working with 60 K&C residents a year who are Disabled, neurodiverse or have long-term health conditions, ex-prisoners and people dealing long-term unemployment, focusing on personalised employment support, including CV development and volunteer work experience.
  • Mo1 Youths –supporting 160 K&C residents per year, focusing on young people aged 14-25 affected by poverty, school exclusion, poor mental health, neurodiversity, homelessness, exploitation, coercive relationships and serious youth violence. The grant will support intensive employability, mentoring and wellbeing support for those facing multiple barriers to work and education.
  • Pursuing Independent Paths – supporting 20 K&C residents per year who are adults with learning disabilities, working with an allocated keyworker, providing bespoke support packages, practical skills sessions, paid or voluntary work experience and employment theory. 
  • Octavia Foundation – a project supporting 20 young K&C residents annually with paid creative industry opportunities, professional mentoring and pathways to digital content careers. The project is targeted towards young people who have an interest in creative industries but lack confidence, networks and knowledge with paid creative opportunities, connecting young people with older industry professionals who are out of employment.