Introduction
Since 2015, City & Guilds Foundation has been driven by a single purpose: to create opportunities for everyone to succeed, no matter who they are or where they come from.
This report looks back over the past five years to see what’s possible when vocational skills are used as a catalyst for social and economic change, even as we navigated unprecedented changes to the way we live and work.
Working alongside commissioners, employers and charity partners, we’ve focused on expanding access to high-quality training and qualifications for those who need it most.
From prisons to community kitchens, heritage craft workshops to mentoring networks, we’ve seen how removing barriers and building confidence can unlock potential creating tangible and sustainable pathways into work.
A summary in numbers
£5,651,780
worth of grants to frontline charities and individuals
50
Fellows awarded, joining a network of 446 individuals honoured for their exceptional contribution to skills
15,320
individuals directly supported through funding
471
Princess Royal Training Awards conferred, with 306 organisations recognised, representing best-in-class training delivered to over 950,000 people
£23 million
social return on investment through funding frontline charities supporting prison leavers and displaced people
“Being awarded a Princess Royal Training Award was one of our proudest moments as a business. It was recognition on the highest level for the work we are doing in providing education and employment in tech for underserved communities. With a similar shared mission, the City & Guilds Foundation continues to inspire us to create opportunities. That’s why this year we launched Sparta Education – a brand new Edtech platform that provides free online tech training pathways for people at the very beginning of tech exploration. With this new platform, we are on a mission to change 10,000 futures by the end of this year. We would then love to re-apply for another Award for this new initiative!”
Purnima Sen, Sparta Global,
Princess Royal Training Award recipient
Cameron’s passion for fixing things began while caring for his mother, but without formal training, a career in engineering felt out of reach. City & Guilds Foundation funded him to complete a series of practical trades courses, giving him the skills, confidence, and momentum to progress. Starting with short-term jobs, he soon secured a full-time role at a London hotel and has since advanced to Supervising Engineering Manager.
“Without the bursary, none of this would have happened,” he says. Today, Cameron balances a stable career with family life, taking pride in a journey that transformed personal responsibility into professional achievement. His story is one of resilience, opportunity, and sustained career growth
Cameron, Engineering Manager, bursary recipient
“As we close out another incredible year, I wanted to take a moment to thank you on behalf of Breaking Barriers for your wonderful support to us – especially through your facilitation of the CV Advice Workshop as part of the Health and Social Care Pathway. Your time, energy, and compassion were invaluable to our refugee clients.
Together, you and many others in our community have supported us to make strides in creating opportunities, and building the confidence and knowledge of our clients, which can be so important as they look to take a leap into rebuilding their lives again in the UK.”
Ryshel Patel, Breaking Barriers, Charity Partner
Malachi has transformed construction training for learners with social, emotional, or mental health needs at Belmont Park School in East London. Described as ‘outstanding’ by Ofsted and EQAs, his supportive approach and introduction of City & Guilds qualifications have led to some of the highest outcomes and participation rates in the school. In 2024, he was awarded the Membership Award and in 2025, received The President’s Award presented by HRH The Princess Royal for his work training at-risk young people.
“What I care about is the young people I work with who have so much potential. And without people like you, people like me don’t exist.”
Malachi Bakas, Construction Lead at Belmont Park School, Membership Award & President’s Award winner
“The City & Guilds Foundation has shown such dedication and commitment to building evidence that is all about holding ourselves to account as individuals, organisations and a society for making sure everyone has the opportunity to thrive in work. Long may it continue.”
Professor Amanda Kirby FCGI, Researcher and CEO of Do-It Profiler, expert partner for the Neurodiversity Index
Reflections
The City & Guilds Foundation has been on an extraordinary journey over the past five years.
The Covid-19 pandemic threw so much of what was familiar out the window, exponentially increasing the need and demand for what the Foundation could offer. This set the tone for the next five years; global and local conflicts, a prison system close to breaking point, a million young people out of education and work, the rapid advancement of AI and the unprecedented opportunities and challenges it brings. The challenges have deepened our sense of purpose.
According to the World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report 2025, 170 million jobs will be created this decade, while 92 million existing jobs will be displaced. Clearly, our duty then is to ensure that no-one is left behind in the future of skills.
Reflecting on these five years, there are a few areas in particular I feel genuinely proud of, and that I hope will give us much scope to build upon in the future.
We have remained ambitious about the potential to change systems, but our primary focus has never shifted from the individual. Take Othman, for example, at HMP Highpoint. After participating in the Foundation-funded rail maintenance programme, he was able to secure work and finally break the cycle of reoffending he had been stuck in since childhood. It is the delivery of more outcomes like Othman’s that gives us the evidence we can take to changemakers, government and industry, and say: ‘this works, let’s do more’.
We’ve shown that adding value isn’t only about the money. We aim to provide catalytic support that enables small charities to become sustainable and deliver their frontline services to reach more people. For example, we partnered with Routes, a skills and employability charity for female refugees and asylum seekers in London, to develop their impact measurement capability so they could prove the value of their support and leverage more funding as a result.
Our Theory of Change has set a new benchmark for how we measure and communicate impact; holding us accountable and helping us link individual opportunity with societal benefit. We know that the next step is to ensure that employers and industries see the undeniable value of investing in people – in productivity, profitability, and long-term stability.
We’ve also worked hard to create new ways of connecting people and purpose, from celebrating excellence through the Princess Royal Training Awards, to campaigning for inclusion with our Neurodiversity Index, to strengthening the capacity of charities that serve underrepresented groups. The ripple effects of these collaborations are already being felt far and wide.
The extraordinary commitment of our small but mighty Foundation team. They embody our principle of ‘investing where we make the most disproportionate impact’, stretching every pound and partnership to deliver maximum value.
The past five years have been a real learning journey – rewarding, humbling and often joyful. But we are nowhere near done in delivering the change we want to see.
Dick Palmer, Deputy Chair City & Guilds Foundation
"The activities of the City & Guilds Foundation, its partners and collaborators, reinforce my fundamental belief in the role that education and opportunity play in delivering meaningful social change, even and perhaps especially when there are barriers to success.
When people acquire the tools to gain meaningful work, provide for their families and play a productive part in society – we all benefit.
Behind each story and each piece of data, there are individuals with tenacity, employers with a sense of responsibility and a society passionate about opportunity.
My heartfelt thanks to everyone who has supported and continues to support our Foundation. I hope you enjoy reading about our impact. Watch this space."
Dame Ann Limb DBE DL FRSA FCGI,
Chair of City & Guilds Foundation
"Being able to support the high impact initiatives outlined here has been one of my greatest privileges. It hasn’t always been easy; making sure we could deliver during Covid, ensuring funding reached those most in need, continuing to celebrate those who make a difference as we navigate a turbulent world and ever competing priorities. But it has been worth it. I know everyone at City & Guilds is extremely proud that we can and do deliver and amplify our purpose through the Foundation."
Kirstie Donnelly MBE,
CEO City & Guilds
"As incoming CEO, it is deeply inspiring to read how our work is transforming access to skills and learning so that people, who might otherwise be excluded, can get on to new pathways for the next phase of their lives. The variety and richness of the stories contained in this report show how much can be achieved by providing catalytic funding for people to access skills, celebrate great work and advocate for a more equitable workplace.
As we look to the future of the City & Guilds Foundation, I am hugely excited to play my part in setting the direction for the next five, fifteen and fifty years, where our work is likely to be needed more than ever if we are to tackle the inequalities that hold back our society."
Mike Adamson CBE,
Interim CEO, City & Guilds Foundation
How City & Guilds Foundation
delivers its mission
Innovating
finding new ways to remove barriers to skills and work
Celebrating
recognising and showcasing best practice in skills development
Evaluating
test, prove and code outcomes so we can replicate successes support systemic change.
Its Theory of Change holds the Foundation to account to deliver with a focus on the people that most need it, for stronger organisations and a more productive society.
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