This report considers how Football Club charities are already delivering effective employment support, but argues that they are often under-recognised and inconsistently funded. Existing provision could be scaled up in line with government priorities if they were more widely recognised as partners and could access more sustainable funding.

The report explores both the challenges, such as the funding landscape and geographic disparities, and what is working in employment support delivery. Overall, it positions Football Club charities as anchor institutions in their communities, enabling them to successfully engage participants, including the hardest to reach, thanks to the power of the badge and their trusted place in local communities.

ERSA has conducted this research in partnership with EFL in the Community; including the sharing of data, jointly running a working group with a selection of Football Club charities, writing and distributing a survey on employment support provision, and organising in-person visits to select Football Clubs.

The recommendations provided are informed by this research, focusing on the opportunity for commissioners to partner with Football Club charities in order to scale up current delivery and make it more sustainable.

This white paper explores how Artificial Intelligence (AI) can support employability services to become more responsive, personalised, and efficient.

Drawing on workshop insights, participant journey mapping, and survey data, it identifies potential areas in current employment support delivery that represent challenges for providers and clients alike. It presents potential AI-enabled solutions that will enable the enhancement of employment support to better assist clients on their journey into the workplace of the 2030s and beyond.

The white paper outlines the opportunities, risks, and policy considerations of using AI in the employment support sector. It aims to inform policymakers at both national and devolved levels, employment support providers, and contribute to the broader public discourse on employability. By supporting evidence-based decision-making, the paper helps guide the responsible integration of AI to enhance current services and shape new approaches.

This report considers 11 youth employment programmes, spanning four decades of delivery. Its purpose is to gain a deeper understanding of the implementation of these interventions, their strengths and weaknesses, to show what works best in their design and delivery. Undertaken in 2025 by the Employment Related Services Association, the membership body of the employment and skills sector, the research and recommendations are supported by evidence from 17 semi-structured interviews with industry experts and four online roundtables, engaging 63 people in total.

This work was made possible due to Youth Employment Infrastructure Funding from Youth Futures Foundation (YFF). It funds this work in England only. ERSA may expand the remit of this research UK-wide in the future.

Based on ERSA’s findings, the report makes a series of commissioning and government policy recommendations. These aim to reduce the number of young people, aged between 16 and 24, not in education, employment or training (NEET), and to make high quality employment support accessible to all.