Our latest impact report – out now – reveals our highest ever reach, and shares stories of people whose lives have changed after working with us.
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We’ve launched our Impact Report for 2024-25, announcing that for the first time, our services have reached more than 100,000 people in twelve months – a 10% year-on-year increase.
It’s been a busy year for our charity, where we were also named Careers Provider of the Year at the 2025 Career Development Awards.
Our latest impact report, which covers April 2024-March 2025, reveals that in this period, Career Connect:
- Supported 12,881 participants in the criminal justice system to move towards a new path
- Provided careers information, advice and guidance to 51,000 students across 245 schools and colleges nationally
- Provided tracking and support services for 43,273 young people across eight local authorities, with substantive support provided to 28,605 young people
- Enrolled 221 new learners on accredited and non-accredited courses delivered by our Training and Development team
In addition, we generated an impressive additional social value of £8.8m, calculated according to the TOMs (Themes, Outcomes, and Measures) calculator, a standardised tool developed by Social Enterprise UK and the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO).
Changing people’s lives and futures
This year’s report also showcases just some of the ways participants’ lives have changed thanks to Career Connect’s support, including:
- How Manchester young person Michael*, with help from Careers Adviser Wiktoria, overcame social and travel anxiety, and now has ambitions in to work in tourism
- How our justice team is upskilling men in custody to become peer mentors, helping motivate fellow inmates for release, employment, and a future away from offending
- How Careers Adviser Steve is helping a special school build employer links, engage families with careers activities, and break down barriers to accessing post-16 and post-19 provision, leading to a near 100% participation rate
- How our training team worked with a regional Careers Hub, bringing careers leaders together to complete The Careers and Enterprise Company’s (CEC) Careers Leaders Training qualification and implement their learning in schools sooner.
Sheila Clark, CEO of Career Connect, said:
“This has been a landmark year for us as a charity. While we are now serving more than 100,000 people each year, we remain focused on the quality of individual support we provide. It is at the heart of what we do every day, and it is what we know makes the most impact. This includes prioritising our participants’ voices and undertaking frontline research to inform the design of our services. This is vital in delivering the right support, at the right time, and for the most long-term impact.
“This year, we’re also proud to have taken our learning and the voices of our participants to a national audience, shining a light on the barriers faced by the people we support, offering solutions, and calling for early, tailored, inclusive careers support, that is joined up with other services.
“To have achieved the level of impact we have in 2024/25, and over the last five years, is thanks to the dedication and expertise of our people, the support and guidance of our Board, and from embracing opportunity and innovation – something which we will focus on even more as we move into our next phase as a charity.”
Sheila Clark,
Career Connect CEO
Our wider impact
National research
2024/25 has also been significant for Career Connect’s profile as a voice for the people they support and for the wider careers sector. This included a national consultation on the impact of careers, involving a roundtable event at the House of Lords, sharing of best practice, and urging the government to focus on early intervention in careers support. We also proposed new qualitative benchmarks for careers support for 16–17-year-olds who are NEET, similar to the Gatsby Benchmarks used in schools.
Championing participants’ voices
We championed participant voices with a new youth participation survey, and participation projects that saw young people’s voices inform the design of careers fairs, travel support, and a new career connect website. Work is also underway on a participant voice charter and survey for adult facing services.
Reducing our environmental impact
The charity has also made significant headway in its carbon reduction plans, reducing carbon intensity (tonnes of C02e per full term equivalent staff member) by 22.6, and picking up a silver accreditation from Positive Planet, and a bronze accreditation from the Carbon Literacy Organisation.
Proud of our people
In 2024, we made it into not one, but three lists in the Best Companies ranking.
We funded 119 staff to complete accredited qualifications in careers and assessing.
Among other accolades, were were validated as a Disability Confident Leader, the highest level awarded by DWP, and recognised by the National Centre for Diversity as number 17 in the Top 100 Most Inclusive Employers 2024.
Visit our Impact Stories page
Discover more stories about how we help the people we support.
