PRCA pledges £50K to Taylor Bennett Foundation

The Public Relations and Communications Association (PRCA) has pledged £50,000 towards PRCA membership and training fees to alumni of the Taylor Bennett Foundation’s new summer internship scheme.

The Taylor Bennett Foundation was established in 2007 and provides training, mentoring and internships for black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) students and graduates to encourage them to pursue a career in communications and improve ethnic diversity more broadly in the comms industry.

The Summer Stars scheme is for 35 BAME students and graduates, who will complete a week of lectures at the London College of Communication, followed by a minimum of four weeks on a paid PR work placement. A number of high-profile corporate firms and PR agencies have signed up to take part in the programme, including Facebook, Barclays, British Airways, Porter Novelli, Brunswick, Text 100, and The Academy.

The PRCA’s recent 2018 census revealed that the industry is very slowly improving its ethnic diversity but there is clearly still a great deal that needs to be done for the sector to be truly diverse – particular as a majority of the industry is based in London, a city famous for its diversity, where the PR and comms industry is still 71% white British.

Francis Ingham, director general of the PRCA, said: ‘We’re delighted to offer the alumni of the Foundation’s Summer Stars scheme the opportunity to benefit from the £50,000 of funding we have set aside for them to access PRCA membership and training. We are constantly striving to improve diversity within the PR industry, and this offer will give the interns access to industry renowned talent and resources to help them progress their careers further.

‘As it is our charity of the year, I implore members to be generous with their time and knowledge when it comes to the Taylor Bennett Foundation.’

Sarah Stimson, chief executive of the Taylor Bennett Foundation, said: ‘This is an incredibly generous offer from the PRCA, which continues to be a huge supporter of the Foundation and of taking practical action to improve ethnic diversity in the communications industry.

‘The interns will benefit enormously from access to membership and training and are very excited about starting their career journey in communications. The Summer Stars programme has been designed to encourage more BAME students and graduates to consider communications as a viable career choice and we hope the combination of training and practical work experience will be instrumental in opening up PR job opportunities at entry level to people from more diverse backgrounds.’