Marvin OnumonuCompass Group UK & Ireland marked a milestone, having supported over 500,000 people through its mission to boost social mobility since 2021.
The programme has created jobs, delivered training, and offered education and community support both inside and outside the business.
Achievements since launch include opening Xcelerate with Edgbaston, a community skills centre where more than 3,500 people have trained in hospitality.
The company set up a social partner hub to help those struggling to find work, supporting over 1,000 people with CV and interview training and helping more than 270 long-term unemployed, young unemployed, and people with disabilities into jobs.
Compass has also supported 600 apprentices at any one time, and taught over 250 pupils aged 14 to 16 through junior chef academies, giving them culinary skills.
In the past year, more than 98,000 young people and families have taken part in food, nutrition and wellbeing workshops run by the Beyond the Chartwells Kitchen programme.
Compass also offers 12-month supported internships for young adults with learning disabilities or autism spectrum conditions to help them into work.
Building on this, Compass has launched ‘Mission to a million: Forward Together’, aiming to support a million people by 2030.
The company is expanding access to opportunities by offering 1,000 apprenticeships a year and working with schools, charities and local communities.
It is also rolling out targeted initiatives like the six signature skills programmes and opening more regional training centres.
Mentoring will be increased to support colleagues’ progression.
Compass said it will keep backing the real living wage and run employee assistance schemes covering wellbeing, mental health and financial support.
Over 55,000 employees will be encouraged to volunteer for good causes.
Teams will continue to promote health and nutrition for young people and families through existing schemes.
Sophie Smith, CPO at Compass Group UK & Ireland, said: “Supporting over 500,000 people in the past four years fills us with pride and motivates us to keep making a real difference.
“During that time we have learnt so much and now is the ideal time to enhance our programme further, to ensure we are doing all that we can to continue to improve the outcomes from people both within and outside our organisation.
“By embedding socio-economic outcomes into all our programmes, as well as leveraging our scale, we are able to support tens of thousands of people every year, whether it’s through learning and development, upskilling, providing work or work experience, as well as supporting local initiatives in the communities in which we work.”
