Sky, Spectra and Stockport Council host first Sky Up Tech Grants summit to provide careers support for young people leaving the care system

• Hosted with Stockport Council, 15 young people aged between 16 – 25 who have or are soon to leave the care system met 18 volunteers from Sky and its local organisations to hear about a range of career opportunities 
• At the Etihad stadium volunteers and young people were joined by motivational speaker, Anthony Bennett who provided the keynote speech
• The summit is part of the national Sky Up Tech Grants programme which is focused on tackling digital inequality and creating opportunity for young people who have left or are soon to leave the care system

Sky and social impact agency, Spectra partnered with Stockport Council to host a careers summit for young people who have left the care system. At the Etihad Stadium on Tuesday, 15 young people from Stockport participated in sessions in which they met volunteers from Sky, Microsoft, Mama Youth, City in the Community and Social Communications amongst others to learn about professional qualifications and career paths. The summit was held to provide support and guidance to young people who are considering their futures.

At the Etihad Stadium 8 volunteers from Sky worked alongside 10 volunteers from local organisations to run a career carousel in which young people circulated the room asking questions about career experiences and paths to employment.

The summit is part of Sky’s Tech Grants programme, which is targeted to help young people between 18 and 25 to live independently, after leaving the care system. The grants provide free Sky Broadband for 18 months, a technology bundle which includes a laptop and funds events centred around skills, careers and wellbeing. Grants are being awarded to the participating young people from Stockport, while the nationwide programme will also award grants to young people from Dorset and Gateshead.

During the summit, motivational speaker, Anthony Bennett provided a keynote speech in which he told the group about his life changing health experiences.Anthony focused on motivating the young people to overcome challenges and discussed how they should be open to opportunities. Anthony then held a panel discussion with Isobella Cobos, a Sky employee based in Stockport, who was in the care system in Greater Manchester and drew on her experiences to provide guidance and inspiration, showcasing career paths that are viable options for the group.

Sky Up Tech Grants advance Sky’s ambitious goal to tackle digital inequality and provide support to digitally excluded people through a £10m fund. The programme will support 1000 young people leaving the care system between the ages of 18-25 over the next three years, in partnership with social impact agency, Spectra.

The nationwide programme is also providing grants to young people in Dorset and Gateshead and all 150 participants will be invited to summits in 2023 where careers and wellbeing discussions will be at the heart of the sessions.

Notes to editors

• Sky is one of Europe’s leading media and entertainment companies and is part of Comcast Corporation, a global media and technology company that connects people to moments and experiences that matter.
• We’re famous for innovation. We offer streaming services NOW and WOW; the world’s smartest TV, Sky Glass; Sky Stream, the new, easy way to get the Sky Glass experience on any TV; and the best aggregation platform, Sky Q. We provide connectivity you can count on in mobile, and fast, secure, reliable residential and business broadband.
• We’re Europe’s premium content producer. We create award-winning original content, produce the biggest live sporting events, and we provide free access to news and the arts.
• We believe that we can have a positive impact on society, by supporting and creating tens of thousands of jobs, addressing digital inequality, being a diverse and inclusive employer, and becoming net zero carbon by 2030.
• Sky launched its ambition to address digital exclusion in April 2022 with a three-part initiative designed to tackle digital inequality and provide support to a quarter of a million digitally excluded people through a new dedicated £10m fund.
• The initiative, Sky Up, supports people to succeed in a digital age, ensuring that those who are most at risk of being digitally excluded are given access to the right skills, technology, and connectivity.
• Through its Sky Up Tech Grants, Sky aims to support thousands of young people leaving care by giving them individual grants that include a personal tech device pre-loaded with relevant software, an internet connection through Sky, and access to skills training.

Contact: rebecca.zintout@sky.uk