John Lewis Partnership reveals impact of programme for care experienced people

Retail group, the John Lewis Partnership, has revealed a six-fold increase in job offers to care experienced people in the last 12 months and two years since launching its Building Happier Futures programme.

The group, which includes the John Lewis Cheadle store in Stockport as well as the Waitrose supermarket chain, has offered 143 roles to people from the care experienced community in the last year. The Partnership’s Building Happier Futures programme, which supports care experienced people into work and education, launched in 2022 and offers employability support to care experienced people, including work experience, CV writing and interview skills to ultimately create job opportunities.

The programme has also raised £2.2 million since it launched, a new impact report into the scheme has found. Ahead of Care Leavers Week, the report launched highlights milestones achieved since the programme’s inception in 2022, including: 

• Over 600 Partners (employees of the John Lewis Partnership) completed care experience learning with Who Cares? Scotland, deepening their understanding to become proactive allies.
• 550 care experienced people have engaged in the Building Happier Futures employability programme
• The John Lewis Partnership was named The Fostering Network’s 2023 Employer of the Year, as well as becoming a Silver Standard Kinship Friendly Employer with national charity, Kinship.
• Partnering again with the Open University, the group jointly funds eight student scholarships for young, care experienced people in 2024; taking our total to 12 scholarships since 2023.
• The Building Happier Futures programme moved to sit as a Fund, as part of the John Lewis Partnership Foundation. The change allows that, alongside supporting our existing charity partners, we can now award grants to UK projects that provide education, connection, experience and fun for care experienced people.

Ceira Thom, Head of Learning, Inclusion and Belonging, said:

“I’m very proud to introduce the second Building Happier Futures annual report. In the last year, we’ve continued to collaborate and learn from experts in the community to make sure our work is credible and sustainable. I’m particularly proud that we’ve extended our work to offer dedicated Apprenticeships for care experienced people, and opportunities for connections and learning life skills with our Cookery School offer.

“We continue to work with local authorities, charities and trusts to create employment opportunities for young people and remain passionate about being the employer of choice for individuals with care experience.”

Jo Rackham, Interim Executive Director, People, at the John Lewis Partnership, said:

“As I reflect on the progress that is being made and the impact that the Building Happier Futures programme has had two years in, it reinforces my belief in our Partnership as a truly different kind of business, which places our purpose; to work in partnership for a happier world, at its heart.

“A genuine thank you to all those involved in realising our 2024 impacts; we’re only two years in but we’re building momentum and are excited to see where we’ll all be a further 12 months from now.”

Minister for Children & Families, Janet Daby, who attended an event in Maidenhead on 14th October to mark publication of the Building Happier Futures programme’s second impact report , said:

“We know that for many young people, leaving care can be intimidating and overwhelming, which is why it’s fantastic to see the work that the John Lewis Partnership is doing to support care experienced young people with opportunities to build their skills and fulfil their potential.

 “We will continue to make the transition out of care as a smooth as possible by helping care leavers to access accommodation, jobs and practical and emotional help.”