About Us
Pillar was founded in 2020, during the first peak of the pandemic. Our initial offerings saw us providing employment services to councils. At a time when employment was often precarious and the future felt impossible to predict, we worked quickly and diligently to place people in roles essential to keeping the country running.
It was deeply fulfilling work, and afterwards, we saw an opportunity to expand our services with the aim of getting individuals and communities back to some sense of normality post-Covid. Most of our projects are centred around helping young people regain some of the opportunities that were lost during the pandemic, and we have done so through an expert blend of education and creativity.
Some of our highlights include, but are not limited to:
Culture Camps
Over the summer of 2022, we ran ‘Culture Camps’ across four different lots around Kent. These saw over 100 young people gain an ‘Arts Award Discover’ award through a structured program of workshops and talks, with a focus on creative problem solving, organisational skills, and self-expression. Feedback gathered from the participants showed that the young people involved felt engaged, listened to, and would recommend the programme to a friend.
Reconnect Festival
In August, we hosted the ‘Reconnect Festival’ at the Folkestone Quarterhouse. This was a music festival by young people, for young people; where we worked with a youth panel to diligently plan out and execute their dream festival. The event was a great success, with over 350 attendees, and many of the young people involved in organising it are now interested in careers in events management. We can’t wait to see the amazing things they’ll go on to do.
Enterprise Challenge
Over 2000 young people enrolled in the National Citizen Service programme at Medway Universities Campus took part in our five-hour ‘Enterprise Challenge’. This detailed workshop saw participants come up with practical solutions to problems they face daily, which were then developed into business plans for products or services before being pitched to a panel.
We have a tried and tested quality assurance process we implement across all of our programmes, to maintain the highest standard of staff performance and session content possible. We also stage entry interviews for participants – not to quiz or assess them, but to learn about how they feel and think, so that we can tailor content and contact to help as much as possible and address each individual’s needs. Exit interviews are also a great way for us to collate feedback on a participant’s time in a programme, and make sure that we continue to provide relevant, up-to-date, engaging content that lives up to their expectations and that they find useful. Crucially, these also give us an opportunity to ensure participants have their next steps lined up to make use of what they’ve learned.
We have a great deal of experience in mobilising large contracts in tight time frames. We have a large network of partners and collaborators across Kent, and as we become more and more established this has continued to grow throughout the country. We’re confident in our ability to deliver great work quickly and efficiently.