- The AJ Bell Futures Foundation has extended its existing two-year partnerships with Smart Works and IntoUniversity by an additional two years
- This will see the annual donation increased by a fifth, from £100,000 a year to £120,000 a year in 2025 and 2026
- In 2024, the Foundation helped over 10,000 women through Smart Works and 26,000 young people through IntoUniversity
- Over £31,000 was also donated to staff-nominated causes in the past year
AJ Bell Futures Foundation has extended its partnership with two key partners, Smart Works and IntoUniversity, by a further two years. This extension will also see the Foundation increase its annual donation to both charities, from £100,000 to £120,000 a year in 2025 and 2026.
Smart Works aims to empower women with the confidence to reach their full potential and secure employment by providing interview coaching and offering personal styling sessions using donated workplace clothing. Smart Works are on track to help over 10,000 women across the country in 2024/25 through their services and support of the Foundation, with the partnership also winning in the category of Partnership and Collaboration at the Spirit of Manchester Awards in October 2024.
IntoUniversity runs local learning centres in the heart of communities across England and Scotland, which support young people facing disadvantage to attain their chosen aspiration, including further and higher education, employment and work-based training. In 2024, donations from the Foundation saw over 26,000 young people benefit from IntoUniversity’s work. The partnership has also seen over 60 AJ Bell staff support IntoUniversity directly with the delivery of 14 careers-focused workshops to over 300 students across Manchester, Bristol and London.
Both partners will also receive a number of free places in AJ Bell Great Run Series events across the country. Last year, this saw an additional £11,500 raised for the two charities.
The Foundation will continue to seek out other opportunities to make a real impact on the lives of people living in local communities and has seen over £31,000 donated to staff-nominated causes over the past year on top of its partnership work.
Charlie Musson, AJ Bell Futures Foundation trustee, says:
“Helping people build better futures is at the heart of the AJ Bell Futures Foundation mission and Smart Works and IntoUniversity are great charities that facilitate this for women and young people respectively. We’re really proud to have helped over 36,000 people in the past year either by giving women the confidence to re-enter the workforce via Smart Works or inspiring young people towards further education via IntoUniversity.
“These additional donations over the next two years will enable us to explore new opportunities to further the work we do with Smart Works and IntoUniversity and give more people the skills and confidence to build a better future for themselves.”
Anna Hemmings, CEO of Smart Works, says:
“We are delighted to be continuing our partnership with AJ Bell Futures Foundation for a further two years. The Foundation’s continued commitment to champion our work, donate valuable financial support, and its reach to help raise awareness of our cause will allow us to take our service to even more women across the UK who need our support.”
Hannah Margetts, assistant director of development at IntoUniversity, says:
“IntoUniversity’s partnership with the AJ Bell Futures Foundation enables young people across the UK to gain essential experience of the world of work, develop vital soft skills, and to forge their pathways to successful futures. We are incredibly grateful and excited to continue working together for the next two years, harnessing the exceptional skills, expertise and generosity of AJ Bell volunteers to make transformative change for young people in England and Scotland.”
About AJ Bell Futures Foundation:
Established in 2023, the AJ Bell Futures Foundation aims to help people who have faced significant life challenges, by providing them with opportunities to build a better future through self-advancement. AJ Bell plc contributes 0.5% of its profits before tax to the Foundation annually as part of its wider Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) strategy.