Blogs

The Hymans Robertson Foundation is delighted to announce the appointment of a new chair, Gill Tait.

Gill is People Director and a partner at Hymans Robertson LLP and sits on its Management Board and Partnership Council. Gill was part of the inaugural Foundation Board of Trustees and played a key role in determining the Foundation’s strategy and guidelines.

In this blog, Gill talks about her and the Foundation’s priorities for the future.

“As the incoming chair to the Hymans Robertson Foundation board of trustees, I’m keenly aware of the importance of delivering on our core aims.  These aims have never been more relevant in a time of economic uncertainty, a cost-of-living crisis and the lingering impacts of the Covid pandemic.  Challenges that have hit young people particularly hard.

I have been involved with the Foundation since its inception and am proud of how the trustees have always responded to changing circumstances and the advice of our charity partners who are experts in their field.  The introduction of our bursary and hardship funds have been good examples of this.  As chair, I intend to continue with this approach of working closing with our charity partners and to build that network further so we can make sure that our funding has the greatest impact possible.  We will continue to provide financial support and funding for financial education and employability skills training to young people, drawing on the support of Hymans Robertson LLP colleagues for their volunteering and fundraising contributions, as well as the firm’s ongoing financial support of the Foundation, for which we remain truly grateful.

I’m looking forward to working closely with my fellow board members and our CEO, Marcella Boyle, and I feel fortunate to have their ongoing support and guidance.”

Find out more about Who we support.

After 3 years in the role of chair of the Hymans Robertson Foundation, and 26 years with Hymans Robertson LLP, Clive Fortes retired in March 2023. In this blog, Clive talks about his time with the Foundation and what challenges the Foundation will face in the future.

“I joined the Foundation Board of trustees in 2018, and when approached to be chair, in 2019, I was delighted to accept the opportunity to help bring a sharper focus to the mission and remit of the Foundation.

I would also say that one of the best and early decisions the Board made in recent years was to appoint a CEO, and we found the perfect person with Marcella Boyle. Marcella brings a wealth of experience in developing and delivering effective and inclusive strategic partnerships, and she is a passionate advocate for the communities that our partners support.

My main goal as chair was to focus on strategy, and supporting our charity partners in the areas where we and they could have the most impact. I felt we should have a stronger relationship with our partners, and in turn, they should have a strong relationship with each other. It was also important to recognise that our partners brought valuable skills they could share. To this end, we helped MyBnk set up in Scotland, and connect to our network of partners, recognising MyBnk’s expertise in creating and delivering innovative, high-impact and high-energy financial education programmes.

Among our best achievements has been the support we were able to offer our charity partners during the Covid pandemic. Because we are a small charity, with strong lines of communication with our partners, we were able to respond quickly to their concerns about young people having difficulty accessing services and be agile with extra funding requests. We then used what we had learned to create the Foundation Bursary which provides direct support to charities working with our most vulnerable communities and people, and has helped many young people with food, clothing, travel, and IT costs, and therefore helping them into training and employment.

Going forward, the Foundation’s main challenge will be dealing with the balance between demand and supply. The current cost of living crisis has shown us the increasing need in our most vulnerable communities, and we must manage our limited resources and focus our time and energy on those areas where we can be of most use.

I leave the Foundation in the safe hands of its CEO, trustees, and staff, and wish the new chair Gill Tait every success. My last piece of advice would be to always think about the impact we make, the very real difference we can make with every decision we take, and that for a relatively small organisation, we punch above our weight, and will easily meet our 10-year strategic goal to distribute £2million to vulnerable communities and young people by 2026.”

Are you comfortable talking about how much you earn? Or would you ask someone how much debt they’re in? Even in 2023, talking about money can feel awkward or uncomfortable. But with new Young Minds research showing the cost of living is the major worry for over half (56%) of young people, having open and honest conversations about money is more important than ever.

That’s where Hymans Robertson Foundation partner MyBnk comes in. Founded in 2007, MyBnk are a leading specialist financial education charity in the UK, bringing money management to 5- to 25-year-olds in schools and youth organisations. They have been a funded partner of the Hymans Robertson Foundation since 2019, and a key partner in our ambition to help young people move into secure financial futures through financial capability and employability training, and wellbeing support.

This week (20th – 26th March 2023) is Global Money Week, a global campaign raising awareness of the importance of building financial awareness from an early age. This includes ensuring that young people gain the necessary skills, knowledge, behaviours, and attitudes to help them make informed money choices and achieve financial wellbeing.

Throughout Global Money Week, MyBnk will deliver expert-led money management sessions to over 1600 young people across the UK, supported by the Foundation and our other charity partners.

This year’s theme is “Plan your money, plant your future.” This focuses on sustainability and encourages young people to consider the impact of their financial decisions on their own futures, but also on others, wider society, and the environment.

With many of us struggling to afford basic living costs, encouraging young people to plan ahead, save and consider the environment may be more challenging. But giving young people the tools to maximise their income, check any entitlements they are eligible for and reduce costs whilst also minimising their impact on the environment can help them safeguard their financial futures.

To find out more and book programmes for young people, please visit mybnk.org.

In October 2020, the Hymans Robertson Foundation announced funding for the launch of its Bursary. Previously, Foundation grant funding was directed towards supporting employability and financial education programmes delivered by our charity partners. However, through working with our partners, we recognised the need to provide direct financial support to young people. Together, the Foundation and its partners co-designed criteria which would support financially vulnerable young people between 16 to 25 years old.

Now in its third year, Bursary funding is managed by 10 UK charity partners that distribute funds to young people facing financial barriers.  The intention of the Bursary is to support young people to move into or maintain a positive destination and provide financial help towards costs including energy/care/food/clothing/IT and data kit and travel.  Maximum grants of up to £300 are available, although the average grant is typically much lower, which indicates that relatively small amounts of funding can make a big difference to young people. Our partner MyBnk acts as a referral partner, further supporting young people to improve their own financial education through online and in-person programmes.

In the first six months of 2022, the Bursary supported nearly 180 young people across the UK. Some of these young people used funding to buy workwear and clothing for interviews. Young people were also supported to achieve necessary qualifications (food hygiene, first aid, construction) which could strengthen their applications with employers.  

“X was a participant (in a Barnardo’s employability programme) and had a keen interest in construction. He was awarded £200 from the Bursary to attend CSCS training and to then sit a test. He worked hard and passed on the first attempt. As a result of this and his Barnardo’s programme, he was offered a position as an Apprentice with an employer”.

Working with young people, our charity partners support and review Bursary funding applications.  For example, the increasing costs of energy and food have been well reported and our charity partners advocated for further Bursary funding. Responding to this need, in October 2022, the Foundation Board approved a further £30k of funding (bringing the Bursary grant to over £90k this financial year). We have directed the additional funding to mitigate ‘hardship’, particularly helping young people with care and energy costs.

Foundation CEO Marcella Boyle said, “The Foundation recognises the impact of the cost-of-living crisis, with more vulnerable young people being disproportionately impacted. The Hardship Bursary provides charity partners access to further Bursary funding to support eligible young people.”

This year, the Hymans Robertson Foundation was delighted to welcome the London Screen Academy as a new charity partner, with 3-year funding approved for a particular project around neurodiversity.  LSA is a free sixth form academy for students aged 16 to 19 years old, founded by some of the biggest names in the British film industry. It aims to plug the skills shortage gap in the industry with a focus on improving diversity – 55 per cent of LSA pupils are from ethnic minority groups and 23 per cent are eligible for pupil premium (pupil equity in Scotland) a measure of poverty.

In July, Marcella Boyle (CEO of the Foundation) visited the Academy at its London home in a converted factory.   

“Introduced by the team at Mayor’s Fund for London, we’ve worked with LSA over the last year, principally on the distribution of the Foundation’s Bursary which the Academy used to support young people with direct grants for travel, training equipment, subsistence and driving lessons. 

We have been impressed by the Academy from the start: its commitment to deliver a high standard of education to its Year 12 and 13 students, its inclusiveness (a high number of students are from black and ethnic minority, LBGT backgrounds) and their enthusiasm to work with the Foundation secure financial futures for young people (with MyBnk now actively working with the Academy to deliver financial education services within the Academy curriculum). 

As our partnership develops, we will work to identify volunteering opportunities. We are delighted that Lucy Steers and her team at Hymans Robertson is already building a relationship with LSA and exploring opportunities to engage their students directly on short/longer-term marketing and communications projects.”