FIRST X Barnardo’s JOBS Project

“It's important to have good networks with organisations that share the same goal of success. Of wanting these young people to thrive and to give them hope.”

Barnardo’s is a long-established VCSE partner of FIRST. Since January 2025, we have delivered an enterprise skills learning qualification as part of the charity’s 8-week career planning course, The JOBS Project Gateshead, for 18 to 29 year olds facing different vulnerabilities, such as mental health challenges, SEN or backgrounds that create additional barriers to pursuing meaningful employment.

Karen Hardy leads the programme which was established in Gateshead in 2022, working with four cohorts each year.

“What is rewarding, is being able to make a difference. In this world, you cross paths with a lot of people living without hope who don’t know how to access support. Being able to genuinely make an impact is my biggest motivation. Many of the young people stay in touch with me and 12 months later I’ll receive a phone call sharing milestones, like how they have found a job they love or built great relationships. I’m proud to be able to play a small part in helping them achieve their potential.”

Exploring the power of the partnership with Karen, she shared, “The partnership between The JOBS Project and FIRST worked beautifully. It was proactive and organic and that really worked for the young people. It was great to work with an organisation with similar values: of hope and looking to the future and treating everyone as individuals.”

On a practical level, FIRST’s role as a third-party delivering within the wider programme provides Karen with an opportunity to step back and understand the young people’s journey on the programme to date, “Having FIRST come into session is a really effective tool for me work with the learners as a facilitator and a support to the tutor. I have an opportunity to observe the learners from another perspective. What are those young people like in a training environment? How would they act when they're required to be more formal at work? Where should I support them to gain skills that will help them maintain a job? I can holistically assess and target the learning that I provide them with throughout the rest of the course.

“The FIRST staff also help that process, I have a debrief with Crissi, who is wonderful at offering a different perspective. That’s a huge support to me as a professional trying to create the best opportunity for these young people.”

Karen shared that the Learners found real value in the experience, “The structure of the learning is really focused on the young people’s needs with the end goal to develop their self-esteem and confidence. The mini projects they worked on as part of the FIRST enterprise course were not something they would necessarily get the opportunity to do at school, asking them to think about what is important to them as young adults and how to potentially pursue a career in that area. Many of the young people were able to do something they considered beyond their reach and think about their future.”

The certification at the end of the course also adds value to the experience, “Being able to get a certificate from FIRST is a really nice opportunity. Some of the young people might not have finished school or feel formal learning isn’t very accessible to them. It's a qualification that they can use towards employment and can be an inroad to further learning.”

“It’s also great that FIRST can then offer the correct advice and guidance for next steps if a young person is considering becoming self-employed or wants to pursue more opportunities to learn about business.”

Reflecting on why partnerships like this are so important, Karen shares, “It's important to remember that no one organisation has the right answer for a young person. But between us, and with the right advice and guidance, we can find what might be right for them to succeed. Giving young people the opportunity to engage with other organisations and explore different paths is an important part of giving them a well-rounded worldview. What might not be the right fit for one person might be the right fit for another. Most of the young people from the last cohort never thought they could be their own boss, and now a few of them see it as something that could be in their future.”

With another year and four more cohorts planned for 2026, FIRST looks forward to a bright future for the partnership, but most importantly for the young people Barnardo’s works with.