Resilience UK Medicines Manufacturing Skills Centre of Excellence: VR Labs

Challenge: Young people have limited exposure to medicines manufacturing, particularly in underserved communities.

Best Practice: Engaging school students in manufacturing medicines with virtual reality headsets and accelerator courses for college students in the local area.

• To engage with and inspire young people into the life sciences, Resilience are working with local schools to provide virtual reality experiences of cutting-edge technologies such as gene therapy laboratories.
• The Resilience Centre provides 3-5 day accelerator courses to 16-18 year-olds to provide education and exposure in medicines manufacturing.
• Learn more here

The Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult: STEM Challenge

Challenge: Engaging young people in STEM research projects through industry-based experiences.

Best Practice: Working with local students to develop core employability and technical STEM skills led by Catapult role models.

• The Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult participated in the Industrial Cadets competition, providing mentoring for 6 young people from local schools with an interest in STEM on a small project which made it to the regional finals.
• This engagement and mentoring opportunity provided students from diverse backgrounds with the opportunity to explore STEM subjects and careers, and provided valuable personal development to the Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult team.
• More about Industrial Cadets here

Careers Hubs: Careers Education

London’s Careers Hubs include Central London Forward, Reed in Partnership (Central London), Local London Partnership (East London), West London Partnership (delivered by Education Development Trust), and The South London Partnership.

The careers hubs aim to raise the quality of careers provision through training the education workforce, providing experiences with employers and students, amplifying apprenticeships and technical routes into work, targeting economically disadvantaged young people, and connecting careers provision with local London economy needs.

Challenge: Communicating and educating school children and teachers in careers opportunities.

Best Practice: Careers Hubs have an extensive network of school contacts and create a line of communication into schools and teachers along with frameworks for careers communication.

• The careers hubs run teacher encounters sessions to expose teachers to novel concepts, areas of research, careers pathways, who will then go on to communicate these opportunities to many more children in their teaching, as well as contextualise the topics which they are teaching.
• For example, UCL and Reed Partnership held a life sciences guildhall event for teachers to explore themes in Neuroscience.
• The careers hubs also run 1 hour talks from employers to provide career inspiration and awareness alongside writing a student booklet for the key 10 sectors which include life sciences, and held a collective broadcast on life sciences to show the big picture of careers opportunity in the sector.

Johnson & Johnson: Black Scholars Secondary Leavers Programme

Challenge: Addressing diversity in research and development.

Best Practice: Founding a scholars programme to support Black students in London studying STEM in further education.

• The programme is aimed at students who have the potential to excel in a career in STEM but need better access or knowledge of routes into their chosen career.
• The programme aims to nurture a more diverse healthcare workforce and ensure all young people have equal opportunities to pursue a career in STEM.
• The 5-year programme is supported by Johnson & Johnson Innovation and will support 25 London-based schools in year 12 for 2 years, and a cohort of these students for a further 3 years including a paid internship during their time at university.
• Each student has a mentor, and takes part in 3 monthly workshops to build their understanding of the healthcare industry and STEM careers.

Vertex: Learning Labs

Vertex is a global pharmaceutical and life sciences company, committed to promoting STEM education and early careers development through its learning labs initiative, which operates in Oxford, Boston, and San Diego.

Challenge: Lack of early career exposure to the life sciences industry and practical experience of research.

Best Practice: Unlock access to practical laboratory experience from young ages.

• The Vertex Oxford Learning Lab was established in 2021, and is designed to inspire students into STEM careers, covering concepts from disease identification, to R&D processes and experimental design.
• Teachers and classes from local schools are welcomed to experience biotech firsthand, participating in sickle cell disease activity experiments, and meeting Vertex scientists.
• The labs also provide a paid internship for year 12 students in Oxford and Didcot, for students who have been traditionally underrepresented in Biotech.

Queen Mary University London: Health Awareness Workshops

Challenge: Engaging with young children in schools with community-led medical research to facilitate healthcare awareness in young people and improve quality of life.

Best Practice: Delivering educational workshops and performance art in secondary schools to understand the lived experiences of young people with asthma, raise awareness of peer-group health conditions, and involve them in healthcare design.

• The team at Queen Mary University London have developed a range of self-management workshops and theatre performances to address asthma in a school-based intervention as a direct result of data collected from questionnaires, interviews, and research on peer awareness with pupils in years 7 and 8.
• The self-management workshops developed were evaluated through a randomised control trial, and if the intervention is shown to be effective,
• Such initiatives may be rolled out become to large-scale interventions, and in new indications which affect young people.
• Read more here

Baylabs: Careers Workshops & Lab Experience

Bayer is a global pharmaceutical and life sciences company, committed to promoting STEM education and early careers development through its Baylab initiative, which operates across a network of global locations.

Challenge: Lack of early career exposure to the life sciences industry and practical experience of research.

Best Practice: Unlock access to practical laboratory experience and provide industry-side insights into careers opportunities for secondary and college students.

• To meet the growing demand for early careers exposure, Baylabs have recently introduced week-long ‘Insights into The Life Sciences Sector’ program for up to 24 15–18-year-olds to explore career paths across the industry from business support functions to crop science, consumer health, and pharmaceuticals.
• Learn more about Baylab here

The Francis Crick Institute: Educational Outreach & Teacher Education

Challenge: Connecting scientific research to education in schools.

Best Practice: Consistent education outreach to local schools and teachers as a standing agreement with the local council.

• The Crick’s education team have a commitment to reach all 55 schools across Camden annually, meaning thousands of school children visit the research institute each year and more are engaged by Crick scientists in their schools.
• The Crick also provides training and resources for teachers, and run networks for A-level teachers to learn about how the theory taught at A level relates to Crick science, allowing them contextualise the curriculum to A level students.
• Learn more here

Hammersmith and Fulham: Careers Events

Challenge: Enabling access and education about life sciences careers to young children to inspire careers in STEM.

Best Practice: Roll out of reveal events focussed on life sciences for young people in local schools, and hosting tours around local cluster research spaces.

• Over 120 local 10-14 year old students met life sciences business leaders from White City to ask questions and explore careers in life sciences in 2023 with excellent feedback from students.
• The next life sciences-focused event will be held in January 2025.
• “There are so many scientists and engineers and inventors here,” said Jamil, 11, from a local primary school in White City. “One day, I am going to be one of them.”
• Hammersmith and Fulham council have also hosted tours and workshops around the Imperial campus and in ScaleSpace, where students have interviewed scientists and presented back on what they have learned

NHS Trusts: Careers Podcasts

Challenge: Communicating the breadth of opportunities in life sciences and healthcare careers.

Best Practice: Showcasing careers of NHS staff across 10 London Trusts in partnership with Talent for Care and Widening Participation programme.

• 10 London NHS Trusts have supported a podcast series called NHS Careers Untapped.
• The podcast is aimed at people aged 13 to 18 and careers advisors to cover careers spanning audiology, peer experience managers, pharmacy technicians and more.
• The podcasts are short 15 minute summaries of roles, and the routes into NHS careers. https://nhs-careers-untapped.castos.com/

Camden STEAM: Work experience and Awareness

Camden STEAM stands for Science Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics and aims to inspire young people of all backgrounds into STEAM industries, as well as supporting local employers to meet recruitment needs. There are 60 STEAM employers and over 200 STEAM ambassadors supporting Camden’s students. Local employers can sign the STEAM pledge here, committing to the STEAM ambassadors and Work Experience programmes.

STEAM raises career awareness, develops skills, provides pathways, and engages young people of all backgrounds to foster an inclusive community to support growth. STEAM Work Experience provided access to experience for 400 year 11 pupils in July 2024 alone.

Example case studies within the 4 pillars of Camden STEAM initiatives:

• Build young people’s awareness of STEAM industries, and support them to develop the skills, knowledge and attributes that STEAM employers need.
  • Bennetts Associates have worked locally with the Camden STEAM team and more to create links with nearby primary and secondary schools in the Camden borough.
  • They provide workshops, work experience, conduct projects, give career talks about architecture and the construction to both students and teachers at a variety of schools in Camden.
• Provide pathways and opportunities for young people to enter and succeed in STEAM careers.
  • In 2022, Google hosted its third scaled work experience for Key Stage 5 Camden students – a week-long programme of skills training and practical experience, with an emphasis on opening the doors to underrepresented groups.
  • This year’s 110 local students experienced a hybrid working format, reflecting the new realities of the workplaces and providing an opportunity to experience Google in-person.
• Engage young people from underrepresented backgrounds in STEAM and support a diverse talent pipeline.
  • UAL CSM work on challenging pre-conceptions and offer insight into career possibilities that aren’t always apparent, as well as providing a space for pupils to experiment and challenge themselves in new ways.
• Create an innovative and inclusive STEAM community and economy for Camden that influences policy and supports growth.
  • Camden’s common use of UCL’s Grand Challenges have enabled them to work on collaborative engagement programmes, while the UCL Connected Curriculum has inspired interdisciplinary approaches to learning and high-quality STEAM curriculum-based resources.
  • Their collaborative programmes range from tutoring and mentoring, research placements and work experience, teacher placements and CPD training, coding and AI projects, and tailored interventions to the needs of the specific schools and local communities.

Pfizer: Industrial Placements Support Envision Charity

Challenge: Providing underprivileged students with soft skills development and work experience.

Best Practice: Engaging industrial placement students with social value volunteering to provide support and gain experience in mentoring.

• Industrial placement students at Pfizer are paired with secondary school students identified by Envision, a charity which works with inner London schools to build soft skills through a 12-week programme.
• The students identify a social challenge in their community and innovate a solution for it.
• Pfizer’s industrial placement students support young people as mentors and skill-builders to address the problem statement and present the solution back.
• Engaging industrial placement students increases capacity for volunteering, and provides an opportunity for skills exchange between young people in schools and students on the industrial placement.
• All employees at Pfizer have 5 days of paid leave to volunteer annually, and this additional scheme with the industrial placement students feeds into the strong culture of volunteering and community engagement at Pfizer.
• More details on Envision can be found here.

Future Biotechnologists: Industry Events

Future Biotechnologists is a charitable organisation with a core mission to become a central point of connection for students between the ages of 16-23 in non-selective state schools, and companies in life sciences in the UK, to inspire students and provide insight into the diverse career opportunities afforded in the sector.

Challenge: School children in underserved communities lack exposure and awareness of career opportunities in life sciences.

Best Practice: Connecting schools with a well developed industry network to provide exposure and education in life sciences careers.

• On site events include career carousels, classroom talks addressing entry opportunities into life sciences, and skills bootcamps to address skills shortages in the field.
• In April 2024, 24 volunteers from participating companies and organisations attended the first careers carousel in Oxfordshire which garnered excellent feedback from students and participants alike.
• Further events are planned in London and Cambridge on the 17^th of October and 17^th December 2024.
• The charity has also developed a database of professionals in the sector who act as bioscience ambassadors, and companies who are searchable by postcode so that schools can identify potential industry partners in the vicinity.
• Future Biotechnologists is growing its network and expanding outreach to London-based schools and companies to scale outreach and exposure to children in underserved communities, and is an excellent vector to access a network of industry contacts.
• Learn more about Future Biotechnologists here
• Contact Dr Lara Marks with regards to sponsoring opportunities here.

Imperial: STEM Event Ownership

The Great Exhibition Road Festival is a STEM-focussed community event which attracts over 50,000 visitors each June. Imperial colleagues bring their work to new audiences and raises awareness of the breadth of research undertaken by local partner organisations.

Challenge: Engaging young people in STEM projects.

Best Practice: The Great Exhibition Road Festival public engagement and involvement.

• To provide local young people with ownership in the event, Imperial works with a panel of local 18-20 year olds to design, research, and curate part of the festival.
• This ensures the community voice is heard in the event, and also provides the opportunity for responsibility, ownership, and engagement in STEM for local residents.

Barts Life Sciences: Employment Programmes

Barts Life Sciences have worked extensively to understand the local community demographics, challenges, and skills gaps, and to provide multiple interventions at the college and workforce re-entry stage, to ensure a skilled and educated workforce for life sciences.

Challenge: Under-exposure and access to internships and careers experience in health and life sciences for people of underrepresented backgrounds.

Best Practice: Barts Health local employment and engagement programmes in healthcare.

• Healthcare Horizons is a widening participation scheme involving 37 local schools to support young people into employment, with 227 young people progressing into employment, and 202 into health-related degrees.
• Barts Future Health Programme collaborates with local colleges, running workshops for 17-18 year olds which provide insights into NHS services, which has more than doubled the number of students studying health and social care pathways at Newham College.
• The Community Works for Health scheme provides routes into entry level NHS jobs, and trained 119 local candidates in pre-employment skills, arranged 60 work placements, and produced 88 job outcomes for local candidates in 2022-2023.
• Barts Life Sciences HealthTech SME project is funded by the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) which supports NHS navigation, advice clinics, and masters classes for HealthTech SMEs in London.
  • This programme supports SMEs who may not otherwise have the resource to take on interns specifically from underrepresented communities for a 12 week internship programme including 8 weeks of training for SMEs and interns.
  • 12 interns from the local community have accessed skills and training in the life sciences, and the programme will be scaled up based on the success of the current cohort.

Lambeth Council: Careers Education Programmes

Challenge: Fostering awareness of career pathways into life sciences for local residents of under-represented groups.

Best Practice: Providing content and workshops which deliver skills to local residents.

• My Life SC1ence is an exciting creative work experience project for Lambeth residents, funded by the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, which will demystify the health and life sciences sector, building ‘science capital’ in Lambeth communities.
• Residents will learn about and engage with the health and life sciences, co-designing sharable content and engagement pieces that appeal to their networks.
• The initiative will offer accessible career pathways through workshops and mentorship, while empowering local residents to explore opportunities in healthcare and medical technology.
• The participants will learn key employability skills whilst identifying accessible methods of participation with the sector and diverse career pathways.
• My Life SC1ence will work with 3 groups of Lambeth residents including 10 BAME students from Lambeth secondary schools, 10 NEET Lambeth youths aged 18-22, and 12 from an intergenerational cross-section of UKSPF priority groups.
• Read more here.

Paddington Partners: STEM Challenge Competition

Challenge: Engaging young people in the digital industry to combat youth unemployment.

Best Practice: Paddington Partners Digital Dash competition programme to empower young people to enter the tech industry.

• The Digital Dash paired talented youth from North Paddington with mentors from leading tech firms such as Visa, Optum, and Cognizant to access training opportunities with local corporations.
• Participants were posed with a tech challenge, and split into teams to create a pitch, the prize for which was £1,000 at the conclusion of the three months.
• The programme provided access to weekly training classes to support employability spanning product creation, entrepreneurship, CV writing, and AI, as well as exploring a range of careers through careers fairs, and support from mentors including networking and connections for internships.
• Through a focussed project, and industry collaboration, the programme met its objectives to improve employability and provide access to large corporations for local young people.
• Read more here.

Capital City College Group: STEM Careers Competition

Challenge: Communicating science careers to young people.

Best Practice: Engaging young people in life sciences to create social media campaigns, designed by peer groups in their own voice.

• Capital City College group have partnered with Islington Council to launch a competition to create a youth-centric digital campaign which speaks to young people about the opportunities in STEM careers.
• This initiative creates content for a diverse audience who might not otherwise be aware of STEM careers, to highlight opportunities for young people, by young people.

King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and Project SEARCH

Challenge: Enabling access to healthcare careers for students with learning disabilities.

Best Practice: Project SEARCH provides work placement internships to students with learning disabilities to support the successful transition from school to adult life.

• King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust has provided a year’s work experience to young adults with learning disabilities and autism.
• 7 interns participated in 2021-2022 at Denmark Hill, and benefitted from a supported employment internship which has led to one intern securing a full-time role at the Trust in the cardiac department at King’s College Hospital as an administrator.
• Each student received a mentor to provide training and guidance, undertake 3 placements of 10 to 12 weeks in different departments based on their skills and interests, and received support to complete their final year of education from their on-site job coach and tutor. The internship ran again in 2023-2024.
• Read more here 

Roche & CoppaFeel!: Health Awareness Competition

Challenge: Broadening awareness of healthcare issues and STEM careers in youths from underrepresented communities.

Best Practices: Collaborating with charities to empower young people in health communication and STEM.

• CoppaFeel! challenges students to design a creative campaign to educate and raise awareness of the signs and symptoms of breast cancer for young people.
• The campaign develops communication and teamwork skills for students aged 16-18 in specific London boroughs, and is a free programme for schools to participate in.
• All training and kit is provided, and Roche provide work experience opportunities and mentorship to students in the programme.

The Institute for Cancer Research (ICR): R&D Apprenticeship

Challenge: Recruiting local people from diverse backgrounds into laboratory technician apprentice roles.

Best Practice: A recruitment campaign targeting local schools, promoted across social media channels to garner 200 applications and awarded the Pharma Education and Training Award 2024 with Tiro, an apprenticeship provider.

• The Institute of Cancer Research (ICR), London have launched their first laboratory technician apprenticeship, which began with a recruitment assessment day which was promoted across social media and through local schools, and garnered a great deal of interest with over 200 applications.
• 16 candidates were shortlisted to attend the Sutton campus of The ICR for an assessment day, which resulted in the successful recruitment of a diverse cohort of apprentices.
• The 8 recruited apprentices come from Sutton, Ryegate, and other London boroughs, with 50% from minority ethnic backgrounds (75% from non-white British backgrounds).
• In May, the ICR will host an apprenticeship conference aimed at engaging the wider sector, including higher education institutions and industry partners. The conference aims to share best practices, address the challenges associated with such initiatives, and ensure apprentices have clear career pathways.

Sixfold Bioscience Apprenticeship with The Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult

Challenge: Addressing the rapidly growing demand for expertise in RNA therapies through apprenticeships in start-ups.

Best Practice: Supporting technical apprenticeships into research as a core aspect of business.

• Sixfold Bioscience is an early stage startup biotech company in London, who have taken on apprentices at an early stage in the company life cycle and have realised great benefit from the additional workforce.
• The apprenticeship has enabled early exposure to laboratory skills, and connection with experts in the field, developing professional skills early on.
• The Cell Therapy Catapult Advanced Therapies Apprenticeship Community supported with the onboarding, recruitment, set up, and management of apprentices for Sixfold.
• The apprentices have enabled the senior teams to focus more on their own research after investing in training their apprentices.
• Sixfold supplied additional courses such as GMP training, and apprentices were able to access lunch and learns, mentoring, and network development.
• Apprenticeships gave Sixfold more flexibility and stability to grow, training their apprentices in new skills which are valuable to many aspects of the business, so they could continuously upskill their workforce, responding quickly to industry needs.
• 7% of the company are apprentices, and the first apprentices are now training new apprentices, giving even more time and flexibility to senior leadership in the company.
• See the full interview with CEO Dr George Foot here

SRG Talent Recruitment: Apprenticeship Co-Ordinator

SRG is a specialist life science, engineering and clinical recruitment agency who have conducted significant insights research into the life sciences talent pool, salary benchmarking, and have invested in supporting early careers development through degree apprenticeships and inclusion frameworks.

Challenge: De-risking apprenticeships for life sciences organisations of all sizes to increase uptake and enhance employer and apprentice experience.

Best Practice: An innovative model for recruitment companies to use the apprenticeship levy and host apprenticeships which are run through industrial placements within biotech and pharmaceutical companies.

• SRG have developed an innovative model to support apprenticeship delivery, leveraging their position as the intersection of talent, educators, and industry.
• SRG leverages their own apprenticeship levy, provides a dedicated and experienced apprenticeship manager, employs the apprentice on a permanent basis and provides all contracts, benefits, training and pastoral care.
• This approach addresses the risk associated with apprenticeship onboarding for biotech with short investment runways, and lifts any burden of time or resource intensity that setting up an internal scheme may incur for SMEs.
• Read more about the SRG early talent in STEM here

The Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult: Continuous Development Apprenticeships

The Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult is a centre of excellence in innovation with the purpose of facilitating growth in the industry. The team supports research and development efforts for companies and delivers end-to-end skills and training through communities and networks.

Challenge: Building a large enough, specialised workforce to meet the growing demand for cell and gene therapy professionals.

Best Practice: Building a UK-wide network of apprentices with opportunities to skill up to level 7 through the advanced therapies apprenticeship community (ATAC).

• Working closely with industry experts, ATAC provides apprenticeships at all levels and career paths in advanced therapies spanning research and development to manufacturing, supply chain, through to leadership and management.
• ATAC has seen apprentices continuously learn and graduate onto new apprenticeship schemes, moving up through levels of specialisation to provide an end-to-end training programme specifically focussed on advanced therapies.
• Learn more about the cell and gene therapy catapult here

The Francis Crick Institute: Local Apprentices

Challenge: Using the apprenticeship levy to hire local talent from outside of life sciences to move into technician roles.

Best Practice: Providing routes into the laboratory for local residents through apprenticeship.

• The Francis Crick Institute has utilised the Apprentice levy to fund six L3 laboratory Technician Apprentices.
• Two of these were current long-term members of staff and four were new appointments.
• The two current members of staff work in a Crick facility and after the first year they and their manager have reported positive benefits with increased confidence and understanding of technical aspects of the work and of the impact of their work on Crick Science. After one year both are on track for Merit awards.
• The four new appointments were from the local Camden area, 2 straight from sitting GCSEs at school. They are undertaking a rotation programme spending time working in different facilities or STPs, with on the job training.
• They also spend some time visiting research laboratories to gain a first hand view of Crick research and learn from Lab staff about their science.
• All six apprentices attend the City and Islington college one day a week to study fundamentals of science.
• The apprentices are employed on a two year contract to cover their training with the intention to apply for permanent roles as they arise.
• One apprentice has already successfully applied for a permanent role within a facility.
• The Apprentice levy is also being used for Leadership and Management training of several existing members of staff who are registered for a L5 diploma. Several of these are technical staff in supervisory roles within facilities and the BRF.

Northeastern University: Apprenticeship Co-Design

Challenge: Establishing industry-ready apprenticeships with a clear path to employment.

Best Practice: Working across universities, the NHS, and companies to co-design and deliver apprenticeships which are adapted to industry needs.

• Northeastern University identified demand for a new clinical trials specialist degree apprenticeship, as an extension of the apprenticeship portfolio offering in Project Management, Data Science and Bioscience.
• Northeastern University worked closely with the life sciences sector to confirm a genuine need for the training, and held a virtual employer roundtable in April where the need for expedited training was identified, and Northeastern University were able to design a ‘fast track’ course for local Londoners.
• This collaboration through industry listening has ensured that the apprenticeship is adaptable and suitable to industry needs.
• The course has received funding from the Office for Students, and was identified as a priority standard for development as well as garnering plenty of interest from students.
• The University manages recruitment and focuses on social mobility indices to widen participation of pupils, and provides line manager training for future apprentice managers.
• Apprentices receive academic and pastoral support from Northeastern University, and meet their managers and industry leads every 8 weeks for a ‘tri-path review’ meeting to monitor progress and manage 1:1 support.
• This academic and pastoral support has been extremely important to SMEs and ensures a stable and supportive environment for the apprentices.

Resilience UK Medicines Manufacturing Centre of Excellence: Industry Preparation Upskilling

Challenge: University graduates do not always gain the practical laboratory skills to meet industry needs for novel therapies, or gain an understanding of GMP-standards.

Best Practice: Provide access to hands on courses and virtual reality platforms in manufacturing skills and GMP.

• For graduates, resilience is addressing the need for hands on training courses to meet the needs of industry, as courses do not always cover skills such as GMP training.
• A virtual reality platform has been developed as a rapidly scalable and affordable approach to growing a GMP-ready workforce and increase graduate uptake into industry.
• Learn more here.

Imperial: Empowering Diverse Voices in Research

Challenge: Nurturing representation for people of diverse backgrounds.

Best Practice: Providing specialist support and training in scientific communication to empower people of diverse backgrounds to promote their research more boldly.

• Imperial As One Media Academy offer expert media training for minority ethnic staff and PhD students spanning opinion pieces to media training and social media skills.
• Read more here.

Roche: Internships

Challenge: Work experience in STEM for people of underrepresented backgrounds.

Best Practice: Delivering summer holiday internships specifically directed at pupils from underrepresented backgrounds.

• Roche’s Beyond Boundaries Opening Up Roche (OUR) programme is a summer internship opportunity which provides training in business concepts and access to Roche networks and resources including interview training, presentations and time management.
• The programme was developed for students who may find it difficult to advance through university into a career due to barriers in their path, and provides the opportunity to explore business areas outside the typical scope of education.
• Each intern has a dedicated mentor, and interns will be able to participate in voluntary training and events.

The Health Foundry: Social Accelerator

The Health Foundry is a collaborative coworking space and community who specialise in supporting digital health startups through workspace, sector specific programmes, events and community support.

Challenge: Empowering people from underserved communities to be entrepreneurs and develop equity in life sciences.

Best Practice: Providing programmatic support to early stage founders from marginalised communities, who unlock equity for diverse local communities in the healthcare interventions being developed.

• The Health Foundry ran a UKSPF-funded accelerator to support local social entrepreneurs without business backgrounds to develop health interventions based on lived experience, following a Community Consultation on health inequalities in Lambeth and Southwark.
• During the Innovation Day, 2 entrepreneurs and 22 community members collaborated in design thinking sessions to develop and refine business ideas, prototype user journeys, and present business model canvases.
• The event led to grant awards, mentoring, and ongoing incubation support. Entrepreneurs were further empowered to bring innovative solutions back to their communities, driving local engagement and social enterprises in life sciences.
• Read more about The Health Foundry here.

The South London Partnership: Workforce Re-Entry Resource

Challenge: Reaching underserved communities to support entry to the workforce and employment.

Best Practice: Developing public resources to support employers and job seekers in returning to work or accessing the workforce from an underrepresented background.

• The South London partnership have also developed an excellent resource: ‘No Wrong Door’. This online resource provides detailed support for job seekers and employers to navigate the skills system and develop an inclusive workforce.
• The resource spans underserved groups such as asylum seekers, returners, those with disabilities, or English as a second language.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA): Return to Work Support

Challenge: Enabling researchers to return to the research workforce following a career break.

Best Practice: Working with specialised organisations to reach and support STEM professionals to re-join the workforce.

• The UKHSA has also focussed keenly on supporting return to work through charities such as STEM Returners, and the Daphney Jackson Trust to recruit and support people who have had career breaks to rejoin the research workforce.

STEM Returners: Supports employers to access talent and improve diversity and inclusion and provide STEM professionals with a supported route back into the career they worked to build through partnering with organisations to run paid, short-term returner programmes. Returners can be of any age, ethnicity, and background, and can access programmes regardless of length or reason for career break.

Daphne Jackson Trust: supports returners to research careers following a career break for two or more years taken for a family, caring, or health reason. Fellowships offer a personalised retraining programme with a challenging research project, held in a supportive UK University or research establishment.

The Health Foundry: Late Career Entry to Life Sciences

The Health Foundry is a collaborative coworking space and community who specialise in supporting digital health startups through workspace, sector specific programmes, events and community support.

Challenge: Hurdles to access health and life sciences jobs for unemployed residents.

Best Practice: Working in partnership to provide opportunities to upskill for life sciences industry roles.

• The Health Foundry is developing a coalition between Southbank technical college and the department for work pensions to develop work experience opportunities for people looking to re-enter the workforce later in their careers.
• SC1, the local life sciences cluster, has been an important lynchpin at the centre of the hub to allow Health Foundry to develop and grow these relationships.
• This highlights the importance of life sciences clusters to support collaboration and co-ordinated programmes in life sciences.
• Read more about The Health Foundry here

Resilience Skills UK Medicines Manufacturing Centre of Excellence: Continuous Professional Development in Life Sciences

Resilience is the UK medicines manufacturing skills centre of excellence, and provides scalable solutions for end-to-end talent development for educators and training providers.

Challenge: Rapidly evolving technologies in life sciences require new skills and knowledge, and there is limited resource for the existing workforce to upskill and retrain to meet new industry needs.

Best Practice: Training programmes for biopharmaceutical professionals to maintain up to date skills in emerging manufacturing technologies.

• To address rapidly evolving biopharmaceutical manufacturing skillsets, MBI training course pioneered by UCL biochemical engineering is a series of intensive short courses for bioprocessing professionals to ensure the industry has up-to-date skills and knowledge of process options.
• Resilience Skills has educated over 15000 individuals across 300 companies, 50% of which are from overseas, which is testament to the global recognition of the programme, but also highlights the lack of awareness or investment in continuous workforce upskilling by UK and London companies and the need for concerted promotion.
• Read more about Resilience Skills here.

The Francis Crick Institute: Local Hiring for Support Services

Challenge: Reaching local workforces for non-academic support services in life sciences buildings.

Best Practice: Amending language and job descriptions, and locations of advertisement to reach local workforces.

• The Francis Crick institute has done impactful work to demystify life sciences technical jobs, to ensure they are comprehensible and accessible to local prospective employees.
• For example, the description for a glasswash technician sets out the requirements and responsibilities for the job in clear and concise language, making it accessible to a local workforce from a non-scientific background. Job description example can be found here.
• Consideration of where these jobs are advertised; through local authority job boards and job centres is impactful.

Hammersmith and Fulham Council: Menu of Activities for Communities

Challenge: Publicising the opportunities available to life sciences business to engage with local communities and students.

Best Practice: Support team for local businesses to provide infrastructure and framework to engage with local young people to provide awareness, skills development, work experience and more.

• Pathway bond provides a menu of activities which businesses can engage in, weighted towards young people, particularly through schools.
• The leaflet outlining opportunities to engage can be found here.

Sutton Council: STEM Festival

Challenge: Providing visibility of the research and job opportunities in life sciences to local communities.

Best Practice: Sutton STEAMs Ahead (Cultural Impact Award).

• Sutton STEAMs Ahead was delivered between February 2023 and February 2024. It was a cultural impact award project, which blends the arts and sciences, supported by the Mayor of London. The vision of the project was that it would be co-created with the community, that it fostered collaborations, removed barriers, and inspired a younger generation to aspire to become future STEAM professionals.
  • With a total of 154 events and over 25,000 visitors, Sutton’s cultural programming has seen a 77% increase of visitors from the previous year.
  • 82% of visitors agreed that attending Sutton STEAMs Ahead events improved their historical knowledge and understanding of the local environment.
  • The event is delivered through a partnership of local students, the Business Improvement District, Enjoy Sutton, Sutton Grammar School and Sutton Council.
  • Over 10,000 attendees joined the event in 2023, and 17 schools with 1,000 students visited Sutton Grammar School for a schools STEM Fair Day to experience experiments.
• In 2024, the Fair was attended by representatives from the Royal Marsden and Institute for Cancer Research who demonstrated pipetting and discussed the research themes in the local centres.
  • STEM careers resources were developed in a fun interactive format as interviews by an ‘AI’ interviewer, which are available here.
  • The event was delivered on consultation with a focus group of year 12 students, to ensure the programme was designed for the right audience, by that audience.
• The London Cancer Hub participated in 2022’s Open House Festival to engage local residents and communicate the importance of the research going on to develop a sense of pride in the community.

  • Over 100 guests visited the London Cancer Hub on 24th September 2022, which included architect-led tours of the award-winning Harris Academy Sutton, tours of the Innovation Gateway (a Council-owned incubator space for life science start-ups and spin-outs), and a Nature and Wellbeing Walk taking in green space in and around the London Cancer Hub.

Islington LIFT: Community Education in Careers

Challenge: Engaging with, providing work experience, and hiring from the local community into life sciences.

Best Practice: Community engagement officers in boroughs to support businesses with recruitment, and engage local communities with life sciences opportunities.

• LIFT works with local employers to create opportunities for local people through paid internships, apprenticeships and entry level jobs, and provides enterprise support with affordable workspace and community outreach.
• LBIC collaborated with LIFT to connect with the local community to produce a Life Science insight session for residents including a tour of the space, employer visits from MSD, and a presentation on entry level routes into the sector.
• LIFT then supported the recruitment of a Hackney resident as a part time sterilisation and waste technician.
  • LBIC successfully adjusted the application process for the desired audience by considering where the job was posted, and the language used to minimise industry jargon and put job requirements in non-specialist language to ensure it was accessible to local people from outside the industry.
• LIFT community engagement officers work to take opportunities into the community and inspire people to consider careers as suitable for them and develop the right connections and social professional networks through insights sessions, careers fairs, and workshops.
• Read more here

Lambeth Council: Community Engagement in Careers

Challenge: Fostering awareness of career pathways into life sciences for local residents of under-represented groups.

Best Practice: Liminal Space : Job Design Lab.

• Job Design Lab (JDL) is a place-based programme  funded by UKSPF that helps communities and businesses across the UK to prepare for the future of work.
• Over the next 6 months, JDL will bring together participants from Lambeth to take part in immersive workshop experiences, to explore and shape future work opportunities in the Health and Life Sciences sector.

Best Practice: Scientifically Speaking: Life Sciences Career Pathway Programme.

• The UKSPF-Funded Life Sciences Career Pathway Program is an educational program aiming to equip the residents of Lambeth with a foundational understanding of the life sciences sector, enhance their personal and professional development, and prepare them for successful careers within the Life Sciences.
• The Life Science Career Pathway Program is a 6-week program including 3 sessions per week, consisting of a knowledge session, and a confidence-building session, followed by group tutorials, external visits, or talks.
• The program is CPD accredited and intended for students considering a career in the Life Sciences, and for individuals considering a career change towards the Life Sciences.
• Diversity and inclusion are core to Scientifically Speaking, encouraging participation from all walks of life including women, Black, Asian, multi-ethnic residents, and those over 50.

The UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA): Inclusive, Diverse Clinical Trials

Challenge: Ensuring diversity and inclusion in clinical research.

Best Practice: Formalised recommendations and standards to benchmark inclusion and engagement activities in research.

To ensure the whole population can benefit from research, there should be an understanding of how different interventions work for diverse groups of people. The MHRA advises that a range of people should be included in research to understand the safety and effectiveness of drugs across different groups, and that a plan should be developed by sponsors and researchers planning a clinical trial of any kind.

• The MHRA has provided a clear framework for how to structure this clinical trial plan to demonstrate inclusion and comparison of different groups, to better understand the impact of interventions by groups, and how reflective of the real world the study is.
• Submitting a plan is not compulsory, but is advised, and new guidance is currently in draft to help increase the diversity of people taking part in clinical trials, which can be fed into until the 9^th December 2024. Guidance can be found here.
• In addition, the NIHR have published UK standards for public involvement which establish 6 standards as a framework to define good public involvement and help organisations to identify where greater focus is needed.
• Standards include inclusive opportunities, working together, support and learning, governance, communications, and impact. Full details can be found here.

Richmond Pharmacology: Community Upskilling

Challenge: Embedding healthcare businesses in the local community.

Best Practice: Including and upskilling local communities through internal programmes and expertise sharing such as CPR training.

Richmond Pharmacology participate in national resuscitation campaigns such as Restart a Heart Day to help more people learn CPR and increase the chances of people surviving cardiac arrests.

• Staff and office workers in the local area were invited for free training provided by Richmond’s expert team of physicians and practitioners.
• Training will be extended to all London Airport Taxi drivers who are contracted by Richmond, to support their work with elderly and ill people who may participate in Richmond’s clinical trials.
• This initiative shares the expertise within Richmond Pharmacology with the wider community and demonstrates the real world value of healthcare establishments to the local community.
• Learn more here

The Knowledge Quarter: Community Governance

Challenge: Reflecting community value and views in life sciences industry development.

Best Practice: Including community perspectives in company governance.

• The Knowledge Quarter are inviting local residents and community leaders to the Knowledge Quarter steering group as ‘civic representatives’ to facilitate better integration of the community into the decision-making process.
• The Knowledge Quarter’s participatory governance will include diverse perspectives which are more representative of the local community, and will provide local community members with experience as members of boards and trustees of companies through a community training programme.
• This initiative is currently in pilot stage, and is a structure which could be adopted by local corporations to drive equity in life sciences ecosystems for local communities.

Southwark Council: Community Health Ambassadors

Challenge: Addressing misconceptions and mistrust about the life sciences and its research in local communities.

Best Practice: Building a network of health ambassadors to inform, support, and empower local communities about health advances.

• Southwark Council established the Community Health Ambassador programme officers during the COVID-19 pandemic to provide information and support to local communities and address misconceptions about the pandemic and vaccines. The Ambassadors also provided a mechanism for residents to feedback to the council and other partners on health challenges they face and potential solutions to support the local community.
• There are now over 180 ambassadors from neighbourhoods across the borough. They are local residents from diverse backgrounds (74% identify themselves as Black Asian or Minority Ethnic), many of whom speak community languages, which assists in reaching underrepresented communities.
• The Community Health Ambassador network is open to anyone living, working or volunteering the borough. Training is offered on a wide range of topics such as mental health first aid and making every contact count. Our Ambassadors have supported a number of health and care projects, including a hospital discharge research project, assisting in the development of training in Long-Covid, and establishing a working group exploring how to effectively reach all communities with messages relating to vaccination.
• Ambassadors have also received training in community research skills, which has led to opportunities to support local health-related research projects. Ambassadors provide regular engagement support to the Health Outreach Programme, which offers Vital 5 health checks at community events and in community venues, and a cohort of 13 have recently been trained as Health and Wellbeing Coaches to provide an additional offer as part of the outreach work.

Barts Life Sciences

Careers Map

Challenge: Visibility of the varying life sciences careers opportunities, and pathways into careers.

Best Practice: Careers mapping exercise to identify routes into life sciences and clearly communicate prerequisites and opportunities.

• Barts Life Sciences have undertaken an extensive careers mapping exercise to review the breadth of life sciences careers available to local talent, and the potential earnings from entry to senior levels.
• This insightful resource reviews careers spanning the lab, hospital, med tech, office, education, and estates management, along with guidance on the educational and training pathways available to enter each discipline.

View the careers map here.

Social Impact Gaps

Challenge: Understanding the current landscape, gaps, and opportunity for social impact of life sciences in the community.

Best Practice: Social impact consultancy to draft impact strategy with Barts Life Sciences and Whitechapel cluster.

• Barts life sciences and the Whitechapel cluster have engaged Montagu Evans, a social impact consultancy to review all activities in Whitechapel and identify key gaps and initiatives to advance social impact of the cluster.
• This research, which will be shared in the near future, aims to define how businesses can deliver greater social impact in the long term, and to provide targeted actions to address the key areas of need in that community.

Paddington Life Sciences Partners: Skills Mapping Report

Challenge: Understanding gaps, employer requirements, and pathways into life sciences careers

Best Practice: Careers and skills mapping exercise to identify routes into life sciences and clearly communicate prerequisites and opportunities

• Paddington Life Sciences Partners undertook an extensive research project to identify key employment opportunities and growth occupations in their local area
• Opportunities for apprenticeships and points of entry into each high-demand career were mapped out
• Hard-to-fill roles were also investigated and careers maps laid out
• Strategies to connect to priority communities and suitable career pathways for each group were laid out
• Recommendations were shared which included awareness, programme provision, diversity focus, training module development, and the creation of small business programmes to prepare local communities to access emerging opportunities
• The full report can be accessed here.

Bioindustry Association (BIA): Diversity and Inclusion Report

The BIA is a non-profit trade association which represents the UK’s innovative life sciences and biotech industry, and works to support industry growth through policy work, networking, and skills resources to name a few.

Challenge: Quantifying the gaps in workforce representation, and understanding why there may be lower uptake, or loss of talent, from individuals of certain backgrounds.

Best Practice: The BIA have taken a data-driven approach to understanding the cause behind diversity statistics in the workforce through access to diversity and inclusion data from industry organisations in their extensive community network.

• In 2023, the BIA published a first of its kind report on diversity, equity, and inclusion in life sciences and biotech in the UK.
• The data showed strong inclusivity and overall diversity of talent, but highlighted significant diversity gaps across disciplines, management levels, and demographic traits, which enables companies and the broader sector to take targeted high-value action.
• The study included 1,200 employees across 30 member organisations provided 20,000 data points for analysis to provide a statistically meaningful reflection of the sector.
• The report identified a lack of female C-suite leadership, black employees (in particular in digital and computational roles), and social mobility gaps with sector leaders more likely to have grown up with a social background of doctoral-level knowledge compared to those at less senior levels as areas of industry focus.
• Finally there was a difference between the workplace experience of dominant groups versus non-dominant groups who report lower inclusion metrics of work-life balance, feeling valued by peers, feeling psychologically and physically safe.
• In line with the report recommendations, the BIA are also taking industry-wide action such as network development, mentoring schemes, and the #BIGIMPACT initiative to attract computational and data/AI talent through social media campaigns partnered with diverse representatives.
• Access the report here

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA): Workforce Surveying

Challenge: Understanding the reasons for joining and leaving roles in life sciences.

Best Practice: Capturing data on employee source, next steps, and reasons for leaving or staying.

• The UKHSA has developed an effective framework to understand their employment trends, and the factors which influence the joining and leaving decisions of that workforce to improve employee experience in the organisation.

Mission 44:

Builds a fairer more inclusive future for young people around the world, investing in solutions which empower young people to overcome social injustice and succeed.

Think Forward:

Provides long term coaching to get young people ready for the world of work and develop professional skills.

Envision:

Develops skills and confidence in young people from less advantaged backgrounds through mentoring and skills development to support their education, employment, and wellbeing.

TENT:

Connects large employers to refugees and jobs to support refugees to integrate into the labour market through hiring, training, and mentorship.

Social Mobility Foundation:

Provides mentoring, skills sessions and careers workshops, university application support and internships to help students gain access to university, as well as frameworks for employers to enhance social mobility.

Zero Gravity:

Focuses on connecting socially mobile talent in the UK with businesses for employment. The tech identifies students from the bottom 40% of social advantage and in the top 15% of performing talent nationally. Zero Gravity support sourcing socially mobile talent through the largest opportunities board for UK students covering apprenticeships, internships and graduate roles, providing employers with data-driven impact and results. Employers can also track mentoring activities within companies to provide easily evidenced data outcomes.

STEM Returners:

Supports employers to access talent and improve diversity and inclusion and provide STEM professionals with a supported route back into the career they worked to build through partnering with organisations to run paid, short-term returner programmes. Returners can be of any age, ethnicity, and background, and can access programmes regardless of length or reason for career break.

Daphne Jackson Trust:

Supports returners to research careers following a career break for two or more years taken for a family, caring, or health reason. Fellowships offer a personalised retraining programme with a challenging research project, held in a supportive UK University or research establishment.

Project SEARCH:

Is a transition to work programme to support young adults with a learning disability and/or autism, which has successfully collaborated with healthcare industries to place students into healthcare jobs in London universities.

Vitae:

Supports the professional development of researchers, experienced in working with institutions as they strive for research excellence, innovation and impact.

National Association of Disabled Staff Networks (NADSN):

Acts as a unifying network for disabled staff groups within the tertiary education sector by facilitating a collaborative platform for sharing experiences, best practices, and addressing challenges related to disability inclusion.

Leonard Cheshire:

Supports people with disabilities to live, learn and work as independently as they choose whatever their ability.

Pride in STEM:

Pride in STEM is a charity run by an independent group of LGBTQIA+ scientists & engineers from around the world, and aims to showcase and support all LGBTQIA+ people in STEM fields.

The STEM Village:

Creating a platform to improve visibility of the LGBTQ+ STEM community around the world.

oSTEM:

Supports and empowers LGBTQ+ people in STEM to succeed personally, academically, and professionally by cultivating environments and communities that nurture innovation, leadership, and advocacy.

BBSTEM:

Supports and campaigns for balance and representation of Black individuals in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM).

The Blackett Lab Family:

Focuses on diversifying perceptions of physics and promoting Black representation at all levels in the field.

Association for Black & Minority Ethnic Engineers (AFBE):

Provides support and promotes higher achievements in education and engineering particularly among students and professionals from ethnic minority backgrounds.

STEM Women:

Run graduate careers events and promote jobs aimed at university students and recent graduates who identify as women or non-binary, and study a STEM related subject.

Women into Science and Engineering (WISE):

Aims to advance the participation, impact, and success of women in the UK’s STEM workforce by inspiring girls to consider STEM careers, empowering women to progress within these fields, and fostering collaboration among organisations.

Women’s engineering Society (WES):

Supports women in engineering at every stage of their career with skills and career development through webinars, collaboration with professional bodies, partner programmes, and mentoring and job opportunities.