The Private Equity Foundation tunes in to new charity

The Private Equity Foundation (PEF) has invested in a new portfolio charity, Vital Regeneration, to help more of London’s most disadvantaged young people through a unique mix of music production, event management, literacy improvement and personal development.   PEF is donating up to £530,000, alongside pro bono resources, over three years to help Vital Regeneration achieve its aim of changing hundreds of young lives by scaling up its Studio+ programme.

Studio+ doesn’t just teach young people how to produce music and manage their own live events, it provides a bridge for them to reconnect to mainstream education or work.  Crucially, literacy is embedded in the course and participants have an opportunity to gain recognised qualifications, often for the first time.  Other focuses include relationship management, budgeting, working to a deadline, marketing and teamwork, and Vital Regeneration’s approach is holistic, so a key worker is on hand to give support, sort out possible barriers to learning and help with next steps.

All beneficiaries of Studio+ are either not in education, employment or training (NEET) when they start the course, or are at high risk of becoming NEET.  Many live in hostels or temporary accommodation or have mental health or learning difficulties, while others have been involved in crime, drugs or are lone parents.  So far, 50 per cent have progressed in to full time employment or trainee placements and another 38 per cent in to further education.
 
PEF’s investment will help Vital Regeneration build up its own capacity for growth and develop the Studio+ programme geographically across more London Boroughs and across a greater range of creative ‘hooks’ such as film production or fashion design.  A deal team from PEF led by private equity firm, Terra Firma, will continue to work with and provide support to the charity to help it achieve the step change in its impact.  KPMG and Weil, Gotshal & Manges provided pro bono services as part of PEF’s due diligence of the charity.

Shaks Ghosh, Chief Executive of the Private Equity Foundation, said “Studio+ struck us as both a really creative and effective way of engaging young people in London and Vital Regeneration is achieving fantastic results, albeit currently on a small scale.  It deserves the opportunity to increase its impact by expanding both its reach and appeal and we hope that the money and support team provided by PEF will enable it to do just that.”

Angela McConville, Chief Executive of Vital Regeneration, added ““We have gone on an exciting journey with the Private Equity Foundation over recent months, developing our plans for the future of Studio+, and are delighted to have been selected for investment.  These new resources, combined with the support of our deal team, offer us a unique opportunity to further our mission – to provide opportunities for disadvantaged young people to realise their potential and achieve economic and social mobility.  We look forward to working with PEF to scale the ambition and impact of our Studio+ programme over the coming years.”

Peter Cornell, a Managing Director at Terra Firma, said “Terra Firma has long worked with local charities in Southwark because we believe that institutions have a responsibility to support the communities that house them. PEF offered us a unique opportunity to contribute our private equity skills to a local charity in a new, highly participative way.  We have already worked with Vital Regeneration right through PEF’s intensive due diligence process, getting to know the people and helping them fine tune their business plan and we look forward to maintaining our high level involvement to help Vital Regeneration evolve to reach many more disadvantaged young people.”

For further information please contact Rosie Davey at rosie@privateequityfoundation.org or call 020 7749 5129 / 07827 804066