It won’t come as a surprise that the negative effects of Covid-19 have been felt most by women, under 25s, and those from the least advantaged communities. Less advantaged young people across the UK could miss out on deserved grades, £40k each in lifetime earnings, and if that wasn’t enough - their mental health is at a 12 year low.

This isn’t ok. So we’re teaming up with the The Girls’ Network 👩🏿🎓 👩🏻🎓 👩🏽🎓 👩🏼🎓 👩🏾🎓 to try and help where we can.

The Girls’ Network inspires and empowers girls aged 14-19 from the least advantaged communities in the UK, through one-on-one mentoring and connecting them with a network of professional women role models, as well as The Girls’ Network ambassador community. No girl's future should be limited by her background, gender or parental income, and since March 2019, they’ve mentored 1319 girls and trained 1522 mentors. ✨ 🎓

Throughout the pandemic, The Girls’ Network has worked tirelessly to provide critical support to girls, and the role of the mentor has become more important than ever. And it’s working. 98% of girls mentored during the pandemic said their mentor helped them feel more positive about their future, 81% said mentoring helped them focus more on virtual school work, and teachers called the programme a “lifeline” for their worst-off pupils. One girl said “my mentor helped me find myself when I was completely lost.”

We’re proud to be an official The Girls’ Network partner, and we’re helping them on their mission to #SaveTheClassOf2021 with the following commitments:

👊 Mentoring. Ten of our finest Cleo peeps will be trained as mentors

👊 Education and community support. We’ll be hosting events and workshops for the girls, and helping them to explore potential careers in the tech and finance space, as well as improving their financial literacy, so they know what to do with that first paycheck.

We’re confident that with the support of our incredibly decent and kind Cleo people, we can make significant improvements to the prospects of these incredible young women. And who knows, maybe they’ll be Cleo apprentices one day. We’ll support anyone who makes that journey with whatever they need, from coaching to a coding course.

So expect to hear a lot more from us about this partnership. We can’t wait to see what we achieve together, and a big thank you to The Girls’ Network for this exciting opportunity.

If you want to help, The Girls’ Network aim to reach thousands more girls, and they need your 💰💰💰. Donate.