CSW Group is immensely proud to announce they have won the national “Social Mobility Quality Improvement Initiative of the Year” within this year’s Quality Professionals Awards.

Yep! Cornwall is leading the way as a partnership delivering frontline quality support for young people across Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, but also in the professionalism shown in the production of evidence that supports essential compliance with funding requirements.

The awards honour outstanding contributions made by quality improvement practitioners and leaders in further education and employability. It celebrates individuals and teams whose unwavering commitment to quality and compliance has made a significant impact.

The judges commended CSW for its passion to help Young People and quoted “CSW demonstrates an impressive commitment to social mobility through the design and delivery of the Yep! Programme. They have adopted an evidence based approach, and they gave many examples of success for a cohort who experience significant challenges.”

CSW were presented the award by Emma Cook FIEP, Managing Director of Cognisoft, the social mobility category sponsor.

The Yep! project, which began in January this year, has already demonstrated significant positive impact in Cornwall through the support provided. Over 450 young people who are economically inactive, unemployed, NEET or at risk of NEET towards their goals are already engaged on the programme.

Yep! supports young people aged 16 – 24.  It has a specific focus on 16–18-year-olds who are not in employment, education or training (NEET) or are at risk of NEET, have special educational needs (SEN), or are in other vulnerable groups and have become disadvantaged or marginalised within society.  This important project to Cornwall, was launched in January 2024 and will run until 31 March 2025.  It is managed by CSW Group on behalf of Cornwall Council.

Chris Saxby, CSW Group’s Managing Director said, “This unique, integrated, and collaborative project exploits the very best of locally available support across the county, and builds confidence, resilience, and competence within less privileged young people in Cornwall as they seek to determine their way in the world after secondary education.  We’re very proud on behalf of all those involved in the delivery of this project, CSW staff and our Partners’ teams alike, to have won this national award.”

This is a staged project preceded by triaging, against specific agreed guidelines. It enables NEET young people to join the project at a stage that best suits their need according to their judged distance from the labour market.  The greater the need/distance the more intensive the support made available.

Referrals can be made with the young person’s consent on the referral form at Yep! – CSW Group Ltd.

Yep! is part funded by the UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.  Cornwall Council has been nominated by the government as the Lead Authority for the fund regionally and is responsible for monitoring the progress of projects funded through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly.

Ian Exworthy and Michael Anderton of CSW collected the award on behalf of the Yep! project. They reported that they were totally shocked that a social enterprise based in the far west of the country could win such a prestigious national award up against huge institutions from the sector.

CSW were presented with the award by Emma Cook FIEP, Managing Director of Cognisoft, the social mobility category sponsor.  A proud moment as CSW Group are Cognisoft’s oldest partner of 27years.

Event Ceremony was hosted in Leeds on 26 June 2024.  The decision was announced 27 June 2024.

Showcase – The Quality Professionals Awards