Collaborative Future, a Nottingham based social enterprise, is reimagining the future of work by bringing small businesses, freelancers and young people together to work in creative ways.

Building on the success of the teams Works Social based 2019 pilot, and their remote 2020 work placements, the team behind Collaborative Future is now launching an even bigger and better version of the programme for 2021. Starting at the end of January, and running entirely remotely for 6 months, the Collaborative Future team will bring together 20 business owners with 10 diverse young people located all around the UK. Unlike traditional employability schemes, Collaborative Future centres around creating flexibility and amplifying individuals unique strengths, while championing collaboration, resource pooling and skills-exchange across different ages and levels of experience.

Businesses have benefited from the Collaborative Future programme in a whole variety of ways, whether that's by:

• Scaling their teams capacity in a sustainable way,

• inspiring and empowering the next generation to pave their own career path,

• injecting fresh ideas & approaches to their company and projects,

• Growing their existing teams potential through workshops and coaching opportunities,

• building connections and working closely with complimentary organisations, or

• playing a part in building a more resilient approach to work.

Rosie who is the Co-Founder of Organised Fun, a Nottingham based organisation which participated in the 2019 pilot and again in the 2020 programme said:

“As a small business that has been operating for less than a year we aren’t currently in a position to employ anyone, but we have ambitions to grow. Besides being a good way to support young talent, the Collaborative Futures placement programme was a chance for us to get a feel for employing someone.”

If you’d like to pave the way for more inclusive and equitable approaches to work which prioritise people, not profit, then the 2021 programme is now open for businesses to join up. Deadline for applications is 6th December 2020. Head to the Collaborative Future website to register your interest, or to book a call. If you’d like to find out more, you can catch us at Works Social on Thursday 3rd and Friday 5th December for an informal chat.