Open to All

We believe the voluntary sector should be as open and accessible as possible to people with the passion and skills to contribute, and will be eve stronger and more inclusive if it is Open To All.

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We are leading the Open To All campaign with Children England to encourage charities to only require degrees from applicants when strictly necessary for a role.

 

This approach is crucial at a time when many young people can't afford university courses.

There are thousands of people already working in our sector who don't have degrees and are great at their jobs, including Finance Directors, Campaign Managers and Chief Executives.

A priority for the children's voluntary sector

We don't want to exclude talented people from the voluntary sector – especially not young people who face so many barriers to find work, earn a decent wage and become independent.This is especially important in social care, where staff may be on lower wages than those in the public or private sector and debt is therefore even more of a burden to take on.

It's not just about ditching the degree

Although our recruitment copy might stop mentioning degrees, we can go further to support young people who don't feel they have an obvious alternative route into a charity job.

This could include encouraging applications from ex-service users; giving examples of voluntary work that qualifies someone for the role; and being clear that we don't expect applicants to be 'finished products' – that we're looking for a core set of skills and attitudes, and will provide training and development opportunities so staff can grow into the role.

Get your organisation involved

Click here to pledge your organisation's commitment to make staff vacancies more accessible to those without a degree. See who’s already signed the pledge here.

We’d really like to hear about any good practice your organisation currently has, for example in:

  • promoting job opportunities to school and college leavers
  • measuring candidates' skills without reference to a degree
  • providing traineeships and other routes into employment
  • ensuring the children and families you work with are supported by the best workforce possible.

To share your organisation’s practice or find out more about Open To All, contact our Fundraising team on 020 7833 6826 or fundraising@ncb.org.uk.