MAMA Youth Project & Impetus

Part of the Connect Fund: a partnership with The Centerbridge Foundation, Allan & Gill Gray Philanthropy, The Towerbrook Foundation, Sainsbury's and Bain & Company

We are delighted and honoured that MAMA Youth Project has been recognised by an organisation with the profile, experience and commitment to charity that Impetus has in abundance. We are extremely grateful for the support of Impetus in our mission to positively impact society and the media by giving young people from underrepresented groups access to the industry. The team at MAMA Youth are excited by this collaboration and the prospect for maximising potential that we know Impetus will bring.

– Bob Clarke, Founder and CEO, MAMA Youth Project

The need: Ethnic minority young people are twice as likely to be unemployed than their white peers. In the TV industry only 12% of employees across the five main broadcasters are from underrepresented backgrounds, lower than the UK population average of 14% and lower still in senior roles.

MAMA Youth is committed to working within the media to help the industry become more diverse and therefore more representative of the audiences it serves. 

Our charity partner: MAMA Youth’s USP is high intensity, sector-specific, on-the-job production training and placements to enable young people experiencing multiple disadvantages to find and retain quality entry-level jobs within the industry.

Drawing on deep roots and partnerships within the media they offer two bespoke programmes: TV Production Training (where trainees produce a programme that airs on Sky) and Digital Media Skills, both of which include 1:1 pastoral and career advice, as well as on-going support for its alumni.

The charity’s career placement rates consistently track above 90% for young people in paid work a year after completing the training.

Our impact: Impetus’ will support MAMA Youth in its aims to establish a stronger fundraising capability and corporate offer, as well as honing their programme to work with the young people who need it most. This will set the charity up to deliver a refined, cost-effective programme ready to support more young people in more regions and nations of the UK into high quality careers in production.