Accountancy firm backs life-skills project to help youngsters Rise

Accountancy and advisory firm MHA Moore and Smalley has thrown its support behind an initiative that’s helping young people raise their aspirations and gain valuable life skills.

The firm has signed up to be a partner of Rise, a programme led by accountancy body ICAEW which promotes social mobility and career development by helping year 10 pupils with skills like communication, problem solving and teamwork.

Professionals from MHA Moore and Smalley have worked alongside The Talent Foundry to deliver three recent skills sessions to pupils at schools in Liverpool and Workington. The firm will take part in further workshops with other schools in the region over the next 12-months.

Being part of the Rise programme will help the firm meet a key commitment to its Purpose Project within its ESG strategy, promoting financial education for the next generation and tackle social mobility issues in urban and rural areas close to its office locations.

Paul Spencer, partner and ESG lead at MHA Moore and Smalley, said: “Rise is a superb initiative that’s all about giving these young people the opportunity to reach their true potential, something which is of great importance to us as a firm."

“We really enjoyed being part of the recent sessions in Liverpool and Cumbria which are all about boosting confidence and helping people develop the skills they need to succeed in life and work. We’re relishing the opportunity to help more young people across the region and to have a positive impact on their career development.”

Dave Payne, head of access and volunteer programmes at ICAEW, said: “Organisations like MHA Moore and Smalley are vital in achieving Rise’s goal of engaging with schools in harder to reach areas and social mobility cold spots across the UK.”

The Rise sessions feature team and individual challenges designed to help pupils discover their key skills, character traits and hidden qualities. These include fun challenges involving words, numbers and scientific reasoning. 

The volunteers help to nurture and bring out their skills and get the students thinking about their future careers after leaving school and college, while also looking to build their confidence and self-belief.

Rise was launched in December 2021 after a successful year-long pilot programme. Rather than simply encouraging young people to become accountants, it focuses on building a talented workforce for the future economy.

The initiative is also designed to help overcome the impact of the pandemic on education with many pupils having missed out on important career development opportunities, such as work experience placements.

Pictured: MHA Moore and Smalley's Jack Teigh, Marco Gianni and Rachael Dagger took part in the Rise sessions with school pupils in Liverpool.