LTSB – a social mobility employment charity
We bridge the gap between young people’s potential and high-quality careers. With the right preparation, support and network building, young people from disadvantaged backgrounds can go all the way in their chosen professions. They absolutely possess the ability and ambition, but we don’t think it’s fair they have to overcome systemic barriers alone.
What do we mean by disadvantage?
It’s important to be frank about the deep inequality that exists in the UK. For example, in 2023, the Social Mobility Commission State of the Nation report showed that link between your parents’ occupation and where you’ll end up is stronger than ever: “Adults with lower working-class parents are about 3 times as likely – 30% against 11% – to be in a working-class occupation themselves compared with adults with higher professional parents.”
But it’s just as important for young people to feel they have choice and believe there’s a positive future available to them. We work to level the playing field and open up access to high-earning career paths for communities where opportunities are rarely found.
When we select young people for our programmes, we’re clear that ‘disadvantaged backgrounds’ means being subject to socio-economic barriers. It says nothing about our young people or their families. Overwhelmingly, our cohorts are deeply loved and supported by families that want the best for them. Our cohorts are deeply proud of who they are and where they’re from. Their inherent qualities are never disadvantages.
When recruiting, we look for markers of socioeconomic disadvantage: free school meal eligibility, and/or living in the most deprived 30% of the country. Our eligibility checks also take into consideration other factors that make have impacted a young person’s chances of accessing a career, including adverse personal circumstances such as being a victim of crime, spending time in the care system or having caring responsibilities themselves.
Offering a hopeful future
Having hope for a better future can be tough when the odds are stacked against you. Recent polling by the Sutton Trust shows that young people - even more so than the general population - believe that access to opportunities in the UK isn’t equal.
“Only about 1 in 5 18-24 year-olds think that every young person in the UK has the same opportunity to succeed […] Similarly, 75% say coming from a wealthy family is important for getting ahead in life (compared to just 68% saying the same in the general population) and 84% (compared to 78%) think that knowing the right people is either very or somewhat important to getting ahead in life.”
With young people rightly noticing that the current system isn’t adequately setting them up for success, how can youth organisations offer a meaningful, and hopeful, way forward?
At LTSB, we believe that the answer lies in three stages:
∙ Preparation – On our 3–8-week programmes we don’t just teach CV skills and interview technique. (Though of course it’s in there!). We also provide a variety of insight days where our cohorts get to network with professionals, learn about different industries, and build their sense of belonging in these new environments.
∙ Placement – Employability skills are vital, but employment is our goal. We’ve built relationships with a wide network of employers who are committed to hiring the best from all backgrounds and often adjust their entry process or ring-fence roles for LTSB participants.
∙ Support – Getting a job is the first step, but staying in the job is what we know will unlock genuine, long-term, life-changing benefits for our young people. Our experienced Careers Development Managers provide regular 1-2-1 support for the first year of the young person’s career, helping them overcome challenges in their personal lives and build the resilience to go it alone once we formally end our support.
Our outcomes
Since we were founded in 2012, over 1500 young people have joined our bootcamps, with over 90% completing. 71% were placed into apprenticeships or entry-level roles, and of those 89% completed their first year in industry.
But these stories beneath these numbers show our life-changing impact.
Michael* was living in a hostel in Ealing when his sister applied to LTSB on his behalf, and his life to this point had been fraught with challenges. Expelled from his first school, he was transferred to a second, but his situation didn’t improve. “It just felt like a place people were kept until they were moved somewhere else,” he recalls. “The problems you have on the street came into the school, too.” Expelled again, he became increasingly involved in gangs, entering a chaotic and highly dangerous period of his life.
Despite his circumstances, Michael had a talent for Maths and dreamed of becoming an accountant. Even after self-funding his qualifications, breaking into the industry seemed impossible. The past clung to him, making it hard to move forward. He was even stabbed during an attack that left his friend severely injured. Forced to leave his family home, he ended up in temporary hostel accommodation.
This was when he discovered LTSB. He hadn’t realised his sister had applied for him, so the invite to interview was a little confusing – but it was soon clear it was exactly the opportunity he needed. After the preparation programme, Michael was placed in a multinational bank as an accountancy apprentice, where he completed his qualification and continues his career in finance. “I never knew how good it was going to be,” he said. “The amount of support LTSB gave me is incredible. From the first day when we met in a corporate boardroom for induction, they said no matter where you come from, if you work hard you can make it. That was inspirational.”
Joseph* achieved strong GCSE results and felt sure he was on an upwards trajectory when he started his A Levels. However, while at college one of his best friends was involved in a knife attack outside of the college grounds and tragically died. He was buried the day before Joseph’s 18th birthday. This, along with some other challenging personal circumstances, had a devastating impact on Joseph and unable to focus on his studies he failed his A Levels. It was when he became a young father shortly after that he knew that he needed to pursue an alternative route to achieve a sustainable career. Joseph started on the LTSB Business programme and was an outstanding participant.
Whilst commitments of having a child were hard to juggle, he maintained his attendance and successfully completed the bootcamp. His LTSB Careers Development Manager (CDM) helped him though some of his personal and emotional issues throughout the duration of the programme and kept his motivation up when the programme finished, and he was waiting to be placed. He went on to be offered an AAT Level 3 Apprenticeship position.
His CDM said, “I am so proud of Joseph working through a number of issues to now securing this fantastic role. This position will really help Joseph move forward and is fantastic for him as well as his young family. I look forward to continuing to work closely with Joseph over the coming months”
Working in partnership
We have upcoming opportunities to join our Business and Law programmes in London, kicking off in October. If you work with, or know, young people who may benefit from the programme, we’d love to hear from you. Reach out to info@ltsb.charity to discuss how we can create pathways for young people onto our programmes. To find out more about what’s available, go to our website at ltsb.charity/apply.
* Names have been changed to protect anonymity.
Cat Wyard
Communications Manager, LTSB
ltsb.charity
