A HYDE firm has teamed up with Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand in a new programme that will help young people across Tameside and Greater Manchester.
Findel, based on Gregory Street, is working alongside the former England star’s foundation in the Communities scheme.
Offering young people an exciting and progressive three-year programme bursting with skills development opportunities in sport, music, digital, media and technology, it hopes to bring positive change.
In addition to uniting communities through sport, music and the arts, the programme provides creative accredited training for more than 100 young people a year to boost their CVs.
This partnership, via the Findel Foundation with the Rio Ferdinand Foundation, will give participants access to various personal and social development workshops to build their skills and confidence, including CV writing, mock interviews, and workplace safaris.
And it is the first step in the Findel Foundation’s ambition to provide work experiences to more than 2,000 children and young people by April 2026.
The programme also takes learning from the 2022 Rio Ferdinand Foundation digital skills programme, which will provide progression opportunities and pathways for marginalised and underrepresented young people into a range of industries, with a keen focus on females in STEM as well as sports.
Statistics show that compared to the rest of England, growing up in Greater Manchester can be more challenging, with 32,000 more children living in poverty than the national average.
This programme supports the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) and the NHS’ Taking Charge plan.
Sarah Power, enterprise co-ordinator at the GMCA, which has worked closely with Findel over the past three years, said “The GMCA Careers Hub is working to support and help prepare young people to actively participate and thrive in the economy.
“This is an incredibly exciting partnership and I can’t wait to see the progress made across Greater Manchester.”
Claire Woolley, Head of Findel Foundation added: “We are incredibly excited about our partnership with the Rio Ferdinand Foundation.
“Right from our initial conversation it was clear that there were so many synergies between both of our ambitions and overall objectives.
“Since we launched the Findel Foundation, we have already had some amazing success stories where we’ve positively impacted children and young people through our volunteering and careers programmes and the partnership with Rio Ferdinand Foundation will allow us to further develop our reach across the north west and beyond.”