British soft drink brand Lucozade has announced a multi-year partnership with youth development platform, Apprentice Nation.

The Apprentice Nation platform uses music to inspire and engage with young people to get career-ready and build core skills for work and life. It has reached millions of young people to date providing them with the tools they need to succeed. However, recent Government research shows that the rate of inactivity amongst young adults is almost at an all-time high and unemployment is significantly greater for young people (13.1 per cent) compared to the whole population (4.7 per cent). A separate Government study shows that people from under-represented minority ethnic communities are more than twice as likely to be unemployed. Lucozade, working with Apprentice Nation and lead partner BT, is hoping to play a role in tackling these issues in a way young people find meaningful and accessible.

Lucozade aims to help 16-24 year olds find their confidence through the power of music by collaborating with Apprentice Nation on a series of webinars and on-demand content, featuring artists from an upcoming concert, as well as offering life and work skills, tips and tricks through its edutainment platform As part of this initiative, Lucozade will take charge of a new, co-created educational pillar called Unlock Your Potential, which aims to set young adults up for success called, through a bank of free-to-access content. The content is designed to boost young people’s sense of purpose, and will also cover complex issues such as grief, loneliness, wellbeing and emotional intelligence.

Employees across the brand’s business will also support the Apprentice Nation mentor programme by advising and showcasing the career opportunities available to young adults in the FMCG sector which they may have not have otherwise considered. 

The partnership also supports the company’s wider Growing for Good vision which aims to invest in communities as part of its Giving Back to Society values. For the past three years, Lucozade has run B Active, a peer-to-peer sports-for-development programme in association with Active Communities Network. Since 2018, the initiative has assisted young adults living in some of the UKs most deprived communities in London, Manchester, Belfast, Hull and Newport. 

“Lucozade will be leveraging its scale and reach to drive awareness of Apprentice Nation and the Unlocking Your Potential curriculum with a high-profile multi-media campaign launching this autumn,” said Matt Riches, Strategic Partnerships Lead, at Lucazade owner, Suntory Beverage and Food GB&I, owners of Lucozade. “Our Suntory-inspired ‘Growing for Good’ vision drives the company, and our brands like Lucozade forward to create purposeful collaborations in an authentic way. While potential is universal, opportunity isn’t and so through this partnership with Apprentice Nation we will highlight career opportunities and provide meaningful training for young adults from underrepresented communities”.