An introduction to Feeding Britain's Future

The idea behind Feeding Britain’s Future – Skills for Work Week was simple: give young unemployed people a helping hand in their quest for a job.

The food and grocery industry is Britain’s largest private sector employer, accounting for one in seven of all jobs, employing 3.7m people. It is an industry in which it’s possible to start from the bottom and get to the very top – even with very few qualifications.

IGD brings people and companies together to deliver public benefit in areas like unemployment. We’re passionate about making a difference for communities and for the public at large. So in 2012, the industry came together and offered 10,000 opportunities for young people to get some training in CV writing, presentation skills and interview techniques. The great news is that 98% of them felt more confident about applying for work as a result.

While it’s impossible to track all of the participants, we do know of hundreds that have gone on to find work soon after their training session. Many of them put their success down to the help they received through Feeding Britain’s Future.

In 2013 we want to do even more – involving more companies, helping more young people and providing an even richer experience for them as often as possible.

On these webpages you can find out more about what we did in 2012, including:

• Stories from some of the young people who took part
• Some photos and details of some of last year’s training sessions
• Details about how you can get involved this year
• The story of Feeding Britain’s Future in 2012

For the month of September we want as many companies and organisations as possible to offer some pre-employment training. Even if you can just provide one session lasting a couple of hours and providing a few hints and tips on interviews, or a CV workshop – it all counts.