Some news we've been itching to share. Fresh Meet CIC has officially partnered with Sheffield City Council's Pathways to Work programme, delivered through Opportunity Sheffield, to run a paid internship pilot for young people who are not in employment, education or training (NEET).
If you've followed this blog for a while, you'll know Fresh Meet isn't a side project for us. It's where the careers education work we've been doing at Bravand since 2013 now lives. This pilot is the biggest step yet in scaling it.
What the pilot involves
The pilot is already under way and runs until early 2027. Ten young people are each getting 100 hours of paid internship work.
None of it is made-up exercises. Interns are contributing to Fresh Meet's own client and in-house projects, and to work we're delivering for Bravand clients. Along the way, they'll get hands-on exposure to:
- Software development
- Platform design
- User experience (UX) and user interface (UI) design
- Data analytics and engineering
- Project management
- Digital marketing
- Digital production
Every hour is paid - interns aged 18 and over get the Real Living Wage, and nobody works unpaid hours. They work alongside experienced professionals from our core team and freelance network, building industry-relevant skills, real portfolio work and a professional network in a supportive environment.
Fresh Meet and Bravand: how it fits together
We've been delivering careers education for young people since 2013 - Careers in Digital workshops, talks in schools and colleges, work experience and, since 2020, paid internships funded out of our own pocket. As that work grew, it needed a home of its own. So in 2025, we set up Fresh Meet CIC to house it and scale it.
Fresh Meet is a Community Interest Company - a social enterprise limited by guarantee (no shareholders, no dividends) with an asset lock, and Directors that are not remunerated simply for holding that position. So everything it earns goes back into its mission. It now runs three core offers for young people (up to 25 years old): paid internships, Careers in Digital workshops and Innovation Labs.
The simplest way to describe the relationship? Fresh Meet is powered by Bravand. Our trading income, client projects, capability and credibility are what land the paid work Fresh Meeters do. Clients get fresh thinking and extra capacity. Interns get real briefs, real deadlines and real professionals around them - inside a working studio, not a simulated one.
It helps that Bravand has always been a small core team plus a network of specialist freelancers. That gives interns a close-up view of the full range of roles, and the people doing them. We're also a Cornerstone Employer with the South Yorkshire Careers Hub.
A model that already works
This pilot builds on something Fresh Meet and Bravand have already proven, with our own investment. We've supported 17 paid interns to date, and the 14 "graduates" (three are currently on the programme) have all moved into a positive destination: employment or freelance work, and further or higher education.
Some are still working with us on a flexible, paid basis - you can read Reuben's take on his experience and Haylee's journey (so far...) on their Team Tuesday posts.
As Ross Musgrove, Co-Founder and Managing Director of Fresh Meet, said when we announced the partnership:
"We created Fresh Meet to give young people a genuine route into digital careers, combining paid, practical experience with support from professionals already working in the industry. Our previous internships have shown that this model works, and our partnership with Opportunity Sheffield will allow us to support more young people across Sheffield to build confidence, skills and a clear next step."
Want to give emerging talent a first step?
Fresh Meet is building a network of employers who want to give emerging talent a first step into paid work once they've "graduated" from our internship programme - a full-time role, a part-time or freelance contract, an apprenticeship, or a project opportunity. If you're an employer of any size and that sounds like you, get in touch:
There's a practical angle, too. From January 2027, the Government's new Social Value Model (PPN 026) will ask suppliers bidding for major central government contracts to show how they create jobs and opportunities for people facing barriers to employment. Offering a role to a Fresh Meet graduate is a genuine, evidenced way to do exactly that.
And if you've got a digital product or service project of your own, working with Bravand directly helps fund more of these opportunities. That's the whole point of the model.
Find out more about Fresh Meet at freshmeet.co.uk.
