About us

About Us
Who are we?
What do we do?
What do people say?
Why do we do it?

Making Employability and Careers Guidance integral to education and life experience.
Find out more about how we can help.

Working as a non-profit making Community Interest Company, CIC, our aim is to deliver career and employability guidance to young vulnerable groups and support the development of the necessary skills to secure future employment. Our plan is to make employability and careers an integral part of education and life experience.

We are always happy to have a free, no obligation discussion about your particular requirements and how we or our Community Partners may help.

Lynne Howe

Director and Co- Founder

Over 9 years teaching experience in secondary education based in Inner London and Kent. Graduated from Kings College, London, with a BSc Mathematics and Education with PGCE in 1997. A further 5 years Recruitment Consultancy experience working with investment banking and blue-chip firms. Racial Equality Foundation Strengthening Families, Strengthening Communities facilitator.

Anna Jones

Careers Adviser and Co-Founder

Producer at the BBC World Service for 20 years; online journalist for United Nations based in West Africa; arts administrator in London and experience in teaching English as a Foreign Language. Masters graduate in Film and TV studies. Level 7 Qualified Careers Guidance adviser with experience of psychometric testing.

Ayah Elmaazi

Director

Barrister specialising in contentious and non-contentious financial services law. Practised in advisory, enforcement and civil litigation roles. Also worked on public law matters (including judicial review) and cases involving freedom of information, data protection, disclosure and confidentiality. Accredited mediator with the Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution (CEDR).

Mackenna Roberts

Director

An intellectual property lawyer, trained bio-ethicist, and widely published thought leader on how the law should govern cutting-edge medical therapies.With a masters in Medical Law and Ethics from King’s College London.Previously trained and practised as a commercial litigation solicitor at a top 50 soft IP London firm with extensive experience on high-profile cases. Taught debate at secondary schools throughout greater London and participated in pro bono street law workshops that empower youth with knowledge about their consumer rights and ways to protect brand, music and inventions. Also taught theatre to inner city youth in Los Angeles and was also a Big Sister mentor for over 3 years in the US and on the regional board of its United Way chapter. Before becaming a lawyer she was an actor and remains passionate about independent film.

Kim Akwei

Graphics and Media Adviser

Marketing Co-Ordinator at INTO University Partnerships, creating marketing and promotional materials to support the recruitment of international students to UK universities. Attained a 1st class honours in Media Communications and Culture, which included a study abroad programme to California. While in the US, specialised in graphic design and video production, creating many promotional videos as well as brochures, flyers and magazine layouts.
Content Blogger & Social Media at INTO Higher: www.blog.intohigher.com/
UK Fashion & Beauty Blogger at Ombré & Ophelia: www.ombreandophelia.com

Independent Professional Careers Guidance Advisers

Nanette Chandler

Hi! I’m Nanette Chandler, an independent career and employment coach. I enjoy working with people to help them fulfil their working life aspirations. I have many years’ experience, in helping people make decisions about how to achieve job and career satisfaction; in recruitment consultancy and in company selection and assessment.
A Chartered Psychologist, I have completed the Gold standard Qualification in Careers Guidance.

Alison Ruff

My name is Alison Ruff and I have just completed a Level 7 Qualification in Careers Guidance. I have spent the last couple of years working as a voluntary careers adviser in schools, community organisations and for individuals. I find the work fulfilling and fascinating and want to use my expertise to support people in their search for employment, training or voluntary work in a complex and changing world. I am also working with local charities to provide affordable homes for vulnerable young people. Prior to this I worked as a town planner in Tunbridge Wells.

We provide careers guidance and support for both educators and young people . Our lesson plan toolkits and bespoke curriculum design support QCF accreditation so that organisations can create a clear strategy for careers provision. Easy to follow lesson plans and resources mean that those delivering session can work with confidence and need not be qualified teachers or trainers. You may even chose to use the programme as part of a leaders curriculum for young people to deliver to younger peers. They are also designed to be fun, interactive, accessible and engaging for young people. We also offer a bespoke curriculum design service, allowing education providers to make careers an integral part of their provision.

Our workshops can be tailored to suit your particular requirements covering topics from communication and cv writing to interview skills. Learners can build their confidence and develop their skills in order to prepare for further education, training or work readiness.

Our one-to-one career interviews are delivered by professionals who support young people to explore career, education and training pathways. Group work can also be undertaken. As an affiliate member of the Careers Development Institute, all of our practitioners follow the professional code of ethics.

We can provide private tuition in Maths, English, Functional Skills and EFL to offer additional learning in core subjectareas. Or you can ask us for information and guidance about how to develop your existing careers service. Our site provides a central hub of useful links, from other service providers to links with the business community, in order to support the development of young people in achieving their career goals.

Community Supporters

We have a growing database of regional community partners who can offer young people an introduction to the world of work by providing volunteering opportunities, visiting speakers and mentors.

Our business and community support network, includes qualified teachers, social workers, recruitment consultants, careers professionals, business managers and graduate consultants provide a range of support by offering workshop design input, creating/ reviewing our materials and
processes,and offering additional services from event speakers and voluntary work placements to prize donations.

This provides quality assurance of our materials, real business relevance and ensures a professional delivery of services.

We aim to...

Build confidence and self-esteem in young people through participation
Provide high quality 1:1 careers guidance delivered by qualified careers professionals
Work to promote employability and enterprise skills to young people, particularly from vulnerable groups
Encourage peer learning and mentoring, participation, engagement and community volunteering
Promote interests and activities to develop social networking
Promote business and community support and to bring employers and young people together

For more information about the variety of roles that Community Partners can play and how we can support them, please see our Get Involved page.

The Education Act (2011) removed the statutory provision of careers guidance from the LEA and placed the responsibility on schools to provide'independent and impartial careers guidance.'

The Wolf Report (2011) reflected on the state of vocational training and estimated: 'at least 350,000 young people in a given 16-19 cohort are poorly served by current arrangements. Their programmes and experiences fail to promote progression into either stable, paid employment or higher level education and training in a consistent or an effective way .'The Ofsted Review (2013) 'Going in the right direction? Careers Guidance in schools from September 2012,' included recommendations for schools to improve the quality and delivery of impartial careers guidance:

to develop and implement a clear strategy for careers guidance and ensure that they make good use of the National Careers Service resources,
well-trained staff, careers guidance professionals, employer networks, and local colleges and other providers to ensure that students are well
supported in making decisions about their career pathways
to promote the wider range of progression routes available at further education colleges, independent learning providers, and communities and skills providers

The Review also stated that inspectors should take greater account of the quality of careers guidance and of students’ destinations in judging the effectiveness of a school’s leadership and management.

Furthermore, the business community are unhappy at the lack of 'soft skills' displayed by young people. According to a report in The Telegraph (14th August 2013), The British Chamber of Commerce said that many employers had been left disheartened and frustrated by poor levels of literacy, numeracy, communication and timekeeping among school leavers and graduates. John Longworth, director general of the BCC, called on schools to provide more careers guidance, work experience placements and visits to local employers. He said, 'The government must stop fixating on exam results alone, and ensure that soft workplace skills are taught in our schools, or young people will continue to be left out in the cold.'

With high levels of youth unemployment and employers concerns, Crea8ing Careers offers innovative and cost effective ways to support schools and organisations to meet the needs of young people in an era of legislative changes and diminishing public funds.

Find out more about how we can help.

​Lynne Howe

​Anna Jones