On 6th October, we brought together employers, universities, careers leaders and young people on a stunning rooftop overlooking London for Springpod's very first Impact Summit.
Against the backdrop of the stunning London skyline, we doubled down on what makes a Springpod event so special. We brought employers, educators, institutions and young people together in the same room to collaborate on how we can change lives, and celebrate those who already are.
Who was in the room?
Around 150 guests joined us for our first Impact Summit, from employer partners and university teams to careers leaders and the young people who sit on our Future Makers Youth Advisory Board.
The night was designed around conversation, with guests networking, taking part in some of our interactive spaces around the room and sitting down for a panel discussion from the winners of this year's Impact Awards. The entire event was built to inspire discussion around how we can collectively open up more opportunities for young people.
It was also a chance to celebrate not only the potential of what's the come, but everything we've already achieved.
Measuring what matters
Our CEO Sam Hyams opened the evening with a look back at the year.
In 2025 alone, Springpod has reached almost 300,000 young people and, together with our partners, generated £325 million in social value. Every learner who takes part generates an estimated £1,467 in social value, and for every £1 invested, our programmes return £45.60 in social value.
But those numbers are just a starting point. Our next goal is to double them, generating over £1 billion in social value.
When I started Springpod, work experience worked one way. If your parents knew someone, a door opened. If they didn't, it stayed shut. Who you know, not what you can do. Everything we've built since has been an attempt to flip that around. - Sam Hyams, CEO, Springpod
If you'd like to read more on how we've generated over £508 million in social value since 2022, read our whitepaper here.
Celebrating the Impact Awards 2026 winners
This year's Impact Awards recognised the people and organisations changing the odds for young people, with external categories judged mostly by young people themselves. Winners joined us on the night to celebrate and to host a panel sharing their stories.
- Future-Ready Employer. Met Office
- Future-Ready University. University of Huddersfield
- Employer Impact Initiative. Civil Aviation Authority
- Careers Leader of the Year. Alex Parsons-Moore, Nicholas Chamberlaine School
- Young Impact Makers. Maysa Khandoker and Eva Forgacz-Cooper
- Social Impact Award. Rolls-Royce
- HE Partner of the Year. The University of Law
- Employer Partner of the Year. RAF
- Young People's Choice. Hospitality Work Experience by Marriott
You can read more about every winner and runner-up in our Impact Awards 2026 blog.
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The winners panel
The evening was about more than just a celebration. We wanted to give the winners of our Impact Awards the opportunity to share their stories. Whether it's supporting young people who are NEET, reaching young people some industries traditionally can't, or creating more in-person opportunities, each winner is spearheading opportunities that are changing young people's lives.
We can see that there is real appetite in young people understanding what opportunities are available to them and where they can fit in.
Karolina O'Grady, Project Lead, Emerging Talent at Rolls-Royce
As much as London is diverse, you have so many different cities out there that are waiting for opportunities
Maysa Khandoker, Future Maker Board Advisor
We framed it around what course you're doing. So you can go onto this dashboard, you put your course in and it will tell you nationally what jobs can you get with it.
Ben Hull, Senior Data Analyst at The University of Huddersfield
What people don’t realise is the plethora of career pathways which are available for young people to actually shape a career in every single discipline that is inside a hotel organisation.
Alex Dimsdale, Multi-Property Director of Human Resources at Marriott International
I don’t want the door to just be open for me, I want the door to be open for the people behind me.
Eva Forgacz-Cooper, Student at The University of Liverpool
To read more about each of our incredible winners, runners-up, and their stories, read our Impact Awards blog!
The conversations around the room
As well as networking and listening to the stories from our panels, we had a number of interactive elements around the room to turn conversation into action.
Seeing what's to come at our Demo Booth
The demo booth had a queue for most of the evening. Guests tried our career simulations first-hand and saw how Micro Internships give university students the chance to work on a real employer challenge, building skills they can evidence to future employers.
Giving young people a voice on the Wish Wall
Our Future Makers shared what they wish employers would do differently, which the employers in the room could take away with them as a commitment to answer.
Some of the wishes we heard were:
- I wish employers cared about employees’ development as much as they care about results.
- I wish there was less stigma on hiring under 18s for experience and part-time work.
- I wish that work experience for competitive fields would be more accessible as there’s often more opportunities in places like London compared to other cities.
As a new addition, we also wanted to ask the adult in the room to reflect on their journey, asking them what they started as vs what they do now. It was enlightening to see how different everyone's journey is.
Making it to the Summit
We also wanted to take advantage of such a stunning view, creating a photo opportunity with the stunning London backdrop. Teams, winners and individuals got involved to take a moment of the evening with them.
Where do we go from here?
The Impact Summit left us with come clear takeaways. The solutions that work are already here, young people are ready for them, and it's now time to work collectively to scale these solutions. Ultimately, every young person deserves to have access to opportunity, no matter who they are or where they live.
If you'd like to explore how Springpod can help you scale your impact, get in touch with our team.
You can also take the Summit home with you, and access all the resources we shared on the night!
