Corporate partnerships are a developing area for Rathbone. We recognise the mutual benefits in developing relationships for our organisation, our young people and for our corporate partners and their staff.

Our past and current corporate partners include Vodafone; The Co-operative Bank; Barclays; Virgin Unite, the not-for-profit foundation for the Virgin Group, and BT.

Supporting a youth charity with your energy and expertise

Vodafone employees have visited several Rathbone projects and provided mentoring, advice and support to young people around citizenship. Staff from the company have also raised £50,000 for Rathbone by organising and participating in a number of fundraising events including two golf tournaments and a charity cycle ride in the Pyrenees.

Meanwhile, staff from the Co-operative Bank have visited Rathbone centres, supporting the development of financial literacy in young people, giving money management advice and guidance. The Charity and Social Enterprise team at the Co-operative Bank supported the charity in a newsletter mail out to our UK wide supporter database, sharing case studies of young people Rathbone has supported.

We have an established partnership with Barclays. In the past, Barclays has sponsored a young person’s helpline, in addition they’ve supported and organised our Achiever of the Year Awards, celebrating the achievements of young people. Barclays is working with us on a financial literacy programme working with NEET (Not in Education, Employment and Training) young people.

Virgin Unite has supported our charity on a number of strategic initiatives including brand development. Employees at Virgin have participated in various fundraising events including the London Marathon and the New York Marathon promoting the work of the charity and raising money for the young people we work with.

BT has recently seconded one of their employees to work with Rathbone for a 6 to 12 month period. They’ve joined our fundraising team and are busy researching new income streams for Rathbone, particularly the types of unrestricted income that we can use to respond quickly to emerging trends and particular needs.

Work tasters and placements for young people – helping them get a foot on the career ladder

Many employers – large and small - across the UK work in partnership with our charity providing work tasters and placements for young people. This is particularly important at a time when one in six young people aged between 16 and 25 are unemployed and work experience is often key to getting a first step on the career ladder. Examples of employers who support us in this way include: B&Q, Tesco, National Tyres, Arnold Clark and Trusthouse Forte Hotels. B&Q and Tesco were celebrated for this kind of contribution at our Achiever of the Year Awards at the House of Commons when the companies won our national Employer of the Year Award in 2008 and 2009 respectively.

Internships for students – helping them stand out in a competitive job market

We also work with colleges and universities including the University of Manchester, UCLAN and the University of Huddersfield. We have extensive experience of providing internships and placement opportunities for students giving them practical experience of working for a youth charity and a first step on the employment ladder after university.

Get in touch

Your organisation can make a real difference to the young people Rathbone supports. You might have a specific idea as to how you’d like to support Rathbone and the young people we work with - you might want to contribute to the charity’s core running costs, invest in a specific project or programme or support us with your time and expertise.

Talk to us! Contact Claire Greenwood, head of development at Rathbone with your ideas.