Spotlight on: Rise International
Please introduce yourself – What do you do?
I am Marcus Miller, CEO & Founder.
In one sentence can you describe what your Social Enterprise business does?
Rise International works in partnership with a range of vocational colleges nationally, to provide some of the most underprivileged young people in the UK with vocational education focused internships, located across the world (as close as France and as far afield as Vancouvar, Canada and La Reunion in the Indian Ocean). Within these internships, we also focus on the validation of work based learning, that can be accredited as part of vocational training work experience.
How did Rise International begin?
My graduate job involved me facilitating a range of training and work experience for long term unemployed young Londoner's. I was keen to expand the work supporing young people through my own organisation and I decided to explore the opportunity to do this work internationally (which has always been a passion of mine), when I met a partner organisation based in Seville in 2010. We were able to access funding for delivery under the Erasmus Programme and have continued accessing Erasmus/Turing funding since this time.
What has been your biggest achievement in creating a positive impact so far? On a team and or individual level?
Having provided over 3000 young people from underprivileged backgrounds with a fully funded international internship is a proud achievement for our organisation. One of the most memorable comments I've received from a past participant, was from a young lady in Hackney who realised after her trip to Portugal, that she was 'a beach person' (she'd never seen the sea before the trip). She also noticed how quiet it is when you don't have the sirens and helicopters circling around in Hackney.
What are you working on at the moment?
We're currently busy coordinating and preparing college groups to travel as the summer term is our busiest period, 150+ young people travelling in the next 2 months! We just submitted several funding applications, so are keeping our fingers crossed for positive outcomes in the summer.
How can people & the community support Rise International?
We're always looking to support more colleges to provide these opportunities to their students, so any introductions to sixth form/vocational college SLT, could be helpful. If you would like to collaborate with us please click here.
Do you have any opportunities available now?
Not currently, but we'll be looking at getting an intern in, in September.
How can people get in touch with you?