Now in its second year, the Early Careers Social Impact Programme took Pfizer’s talented graduates, apprentices and undergraduates and gave them an opportunity to develop key workplace skills and contribute directly to the business’s social impact agenda.

This year, six new projects were set up with charities focused on improving health outcomes in society through areas such as food security, housing, transport and employment. This was accompanied with structured information sessions and coaching calls from Three Hands to help support, stretch and extend the impact of the teams along the course of the programme.

Over four months, alongside their day jobs, one team developed a strategy to recruit and build the volunteer base at YMCA Fairthorne Group. Another, at UK Harvest, created new business cases for the charity to implement in order to fill their revenue gap and keep their Nourish Hub services running.

100% of the Pfizer participants agreed that the programme was a valuable contribution to their career development with project management, teamwork, leadership, influencing without authority and giving feedback among the top skills they had developed from the experience.

“It was an amazing experience for you to develop your skillset, enrich your CV and learn more about the social impact challenges facing society.”

Tom, participant

“I am usually quite a timid and quiet person so I used this opportunity to come out of my comfort zone and take on more responsibility.”

Anon, participant

“Working with a talented group of young people opened our eyes to a different approach. There was clear engagement from all members of the group and their enthusiasm and energy led to great proposals that we are already actioning.”

Jo, YMCA Fairthorne Group

“It has been a great opportunity to collaborate with passionate individuals and undertake research and actions which could not have been achieved without Pfizer’s support. This has been instrumental in achieving our long-term objectives.”

Ffion, UK Harvest