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Rise, an accountancy-led social mobility initiative, has announced that 16 new accountancy firms have joined the scheme.
Rise, which launched last year, teaches life skills to young people from low socioeconomic backgrounds.
Last December, ICAEW, EY, KPMG, PwC, BDO and Grant Thornton launched Rise with the aim of “teaching life skills including communication, problem-solving and teamwork to young people from lower economic backgrounds”.
The addition of 16 new partner organisations, including accountancy firms Duncan and Toplis, Moore Kingston Smith and RSM UK, will reportedly enable Rise to offer more volunteers to support sessions and develop relationships with schools in its local communities.
With the help of the new partners, Rise aims to have 6,000 pupils attend 100 workshops in 2022-23. Educational charity The Talent Foundry delivers the workshops on behalf of Rise.
Of those who grew up in the poorest 20% of households, 40% of those who had worked in January 2020 had lost their jobs between April 2020 and March 2021, contrasting with 16% of those who grew up in the top 80% of the income distribution.
Sharon Spice, director, global marketing, brand and belonging, ICAEW, said: “The contribution of new partners to the Rise programme will make a real difference to young people, especially those who have had to play catch up on their studies after their education was impacted by the pandemic.
“Rise has already had a tangible impact on young people’s lives, so we are very pleased to extend the programme further and look forward to the positive difference all our new partners will make.”
Sophie Parkhouse, partner at Albert Goodman, added: “We are fully engaged with the Rise initiative and cannot wait to collaborate with so many bright young persons and have a positive impact on their future journey.”
Cara Turtington, partner at Saffery Champness, said: “The pandemic has put particular pressures on young people and their education, but through Rise we can be part of supporting them to close educational gaps and develop invaluable skills for future professionals.”
Laura Beswick, director of apprenticeships, accounting and tax, BPP Professional Education, concluded: “We want everyone, regardless of their background, to have the opportunity to build their career through education and we’re looking forward to getting involved and making a positive impact.”
New Rise partners are AAB, Albert Goodman, Atmo Technology, BPP, Crowe, Dixon Wilson, Duncan and Toplis, First Intuition, Harris and Co, Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland (ICAS), Kaplan, Lubbock Fine, Moore Kingston Smith, RSM UK,Saffery Champness, and Wheelhouse Advisors.
