Place-based approach

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Regional inequality and poor social mobility across the UK continues to be a major concern. The UK needs to be rebalanced, and long-term efforts to level up by supporting, empowering, and connecting people are key to driving sustainable change in communities.

We take a place-based approach to target areas of greatest need. This means working collaboratively with communities, stakeholders, our charity partners, businesses, and the government, to co-create tailored provisions which address local challenges because we recognise each area is unique.

Using a collaborative approach, we build strong relationships which drive lasting impact. Our outreach initiatives include career insights and skills development opportunities for young people through workplace visits, meaningful encounters with our colleagues and work experience programmes.

We are proud to have met our target to raise the percentage of community beneficiaries we reach in social mobility coldspots, Opportunity Areas and areas of high deprivation to 30%, by the end of 2022.

We work in collaboration with Business in the Community on their campaign in Rochdale, working alongside businesses, third-sector organisations and local stakeholders to develop a long-term roadmap to address local inequality.

We are leading business engagement as a Cornerstone Employer in Norwich, Fenland and East Cambridgeshire, Oldham and the Black Country – helping create meaningful encounters between young people and employers alongside fellow Cornerstones.

Each of our regional offices has identified local schools and social mobility charities that colleagues support through skilled volunteering and fundraising.

We have KPMG Partner representation on six Business in the Community Regional Leadership Boards, focused on responsible business action at a regional level through engagement on issues from climate change to education and skills.

Our new university partnerships will further strengthen our place-based approach to community engagement. The collaborations will provide mutual benefit by enhancing our own award-winning community programme as well as supporting universities to deliver further social value across their regions too.

Our targeted support

Rochdale

Leading business collaboration to boost education and skills.

Cardiff

Helping young people develop maths skills by exploring real-world issues.

Wallsend

Using the skills of our people to help support good governance in schools.

Barrow-in-Furness

Collaborating with other professional services firms to deliver employability support in schools.

Glasgow

Supporting primary school pupils with essential literacy and numeracy through TutorMate and Maths Week Scotland

Dudley

Helping schools embed essential skills in the curriculum.

East London

Developing green skills in primary schools to inspire positive climate action.

Plymouth

Providing books and reading support where literacy levels are low.

Norwich

Convening businesses and improving careers support in Opportunity Areas.

Rochdale

Sharing insight to help inform career choices for young people.

The Fair Education Alliance brings together organisations from across education, the third sector and business who are leaders in improving educational outcomes for disadvantaged young people. We support these organisations to have more impact and to work together to drive deeper changes to make the system fairer which would be impossible to achieve working alone or in siloes.

KPMG is a particularly forward-thinking business on this agenda and an essential business member of the Fair Education Alliance. Their pioneering place based approach to change on education in Rochdale is testament to this and something we are proud to be working with them on.

There are many thousands of individuals and hundreds of organisations working to improve outcomes for children across the country and this is no different in Rochdale. However, the unique approach being taken here is one that brings together those people from across education, business and the third sector to understand issues, identify solutions and support them to work together to drive change."

Sam Butters / Chief Executive, Fair Education Alliance

Cardiff

Helping young people develop maths skills by exploring real-world issues.

We are thrilled to work with KPMG on our unique Numeracy in the News partnership which develops young people's maths, problem-solving, creativity, speaking and listening skills through inspiring discussions about current affairs. KPMG are experts in developing numeracy skills and together we are empowering young people to use numeracy to make sense of the world.

We are working together to reach disadvantaged young people all across the UK to help tackle social mobility. KPMG's approach to numeracy development is innovative because it allows young people to develop maths skills by exploring real-world issues. We're really proud of our partnership and excited to continue our great work together."

Emily Evans / Chief Executive, The Economist

Wallsend

Using the skills of our people to help support good governance in schools.

My private sector experience brings a different perspective and approach to my role as a School Governor, and I am able to show how the corporate world might approach a problem. It is great to see how committed everyone in the school is on moving forward and continuing to improve."

Debbie Reith / Director, KPMG Newcastle and Governor at Burnside College, North Tyneside

Barrow-in-Furness

Collaborating with other professional services firms to deliver employability support in schools.

[...]

Glasgow

Supporting primary school pupils with essential literacy and numeracy through TutorMate and Maths Week Scotland

[...]

Dudley

Helping schools embed essential skills in the curriculum.

[...]

East London

Developing green skills in primary schools to inspire positive climate action.

[...]

Plymouth

Providing books and reading support where literacy levels are low.

[...]

Norwich

Convening businesses and improving careers support in Opportunity Areas.

Businesses working hand-in-glove with education at a community level is at the heart of our mission to help every young person find their best next step. The support of employers, like KPMG, means young people can be inspired and prepared for the future world of work – bringing industries and roles to life through introducing them to relatable role models, giving them opportunities to visit and experience the workplace and developing programmes and projects to develop and put 'work ready' skills into practice.

KPMG has been an exemplar to other businesses in their work supporting Opportunity Areas and Career Hubs such as Norwich – working closely with our local network leads, they have delivered activities to young people, supported schools and colleges at a strategic level through the Enterprise Adviser role and galvanised their business and political networks to build momentum behind our shared mission."

Aimee Higgins / Director of Business Partnerships, The Careers & Enterprise Company

Our Place-based work in Rochdale

As part of our community outreach in Rochdale, a need was identified for increased support from organisations to provide diverse world-of-work experiences for students. In partnership with Business in the Community (BITC) and GM Bridge (a network of businesses, education leaders and careers professionals to provide young people with a careers programme) we launched an ‘employability menu’ across Rochdale secondary schools. This menu incorporates a suite of employability sessions available to schools from employers across the region into one place to make it easier for teachers to choose the most relevant sessions for them.

This has been a valuable initiative with many schools having already engaged with the menu alongside an increased range of local and national employer opportunities available to pupils. KPMG UK has so far delivered 26 sessions, reaching over 600 young people with numeracy, literacy and employability skills interventions. One teacher commented: “The session was very relevant for the wider world. Students learned how to identify business problems and consider solutions. The students interacted well and it really made them think about their futures.”

The next phase of our work in Rochdale is to work in collaboration with employers and schools to understand how we can strengthen students understanding of career paths and experiences of work-places and ensure they have greater access to these opportunities.

Lord Steve Bassam, Place Director, BITC: “Taking a place-based approach is about bringing the widest types of people and organisations together, in a place, to act on long-term goals, agreed with the local community. Working in partnership with KPMG and a wide range of partners and organisations in Rochdale is helping identify where our collaboration can best support the local community and drive positive outcomes.”

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