We seek to serve individuals from the poorest third of households or those who have had a life event derail their prospects. To establish this, we would include one of the following criteria:
- Received free school meals after year 3
- Grew up in an area classified in the bottom 30% for aspects of deprivation affecting childhood.
- Grew up in a household where the main earner’s occupation was routine or semi-routine manual and service or unemployed.
- Have been affected by other matters, for instance, being a cared-for child, bereavement, drug or alcohol dependency, homelessness, being the victim of serious crime, being in trouble with the police, having a criminal record and where the family was in the bottom half regarding the deprivation index or breadwinner occupation.
- If a graduate, did not graduate from a Russell Group University.
Age and socio-economic background are the only basis on which we discriminate, but we are diverse in many other aspects as a result. So far, 32% of our beneficiaries have degrees, 53% are from minority ethnic backgrounds, 68% are female.
