TERMS OF SERVICE - Welcome to The Gen, by GB Shared Ltd!

Last updated: 17 March 2021

The Gen is a product/service of GB Shared Ltd. 

GB Shared Ltd, is a network of countywide sharing platforms [Trading as; Lancashare, Mancheshare, Cumbriashare, Yorkshare, Merseyshare, etc.] which are powered by businesses across the UK.  Since 2016 businesses have been ‘sharing’ by county, using our geographical share sites, pooling their knowledge, opportunities and resources with one another.

We do not charge anyone for using our share platforms, they are free and intended to enhance and positively impact each county.  Businesses can join as paying members, but only if they wish to share. 

In exchange for sharing, member businesses receive great benefits, including exposure, connections, news, funding, tender and job alerts along with other measured returns, while counties subsequently develop a central resource and plethora of opportunities which positively impacts at local level. 

Everything young adults need to succeed already exists.  The Gen does not replicate products or services, it simply allows businesses to share, categorise and centralise opportunities providing equal access to all.  All the data we hold on our share platforms is willingly and publicly shared by our member businesses.

In 2020, GB Shared asked its network of member businesses to begin sharing content for young adults (16-24).  They highlight opportunities for sharing with The Gen where content is aimed at the next generation.  These ‘opportunities’ fall into specific categories of:

Our Services

• EMPLOYERS;

To help young adults find employers with a suitable offering for their age group, we ask our member businesses to indicate if their company is youth facing or has a youth offering, to indicate as such on their membership dashboard.   GB Shared will approve businesses which are suitable for a 16-24 audience.  All businesses are pre-approved by GB Shared for accuracy and relevance before being published to The Gen.

• NEWS;

To ensure young adults can read news that’s relevant to them, we extract news content from our share sites where members indicate articles which are geared toward a 16-24 audience.  To do this, we allow member businesses to ‘flag’ such articles for The Gen.  All news content is pre-approved by GB Shared for accuracy and relevance before being published to The Gen.

• FUNDING:

Both GB Shared Ltd and its share member businesses can ‘share’ funding opportunities to our share sites.  The Gen allows funding to be shared which 16-24-year olds are eligible for these funding opportunities.  All funding is pre-approved by GB Shared for accuracy and relevance before being published to The Gen.

• ACCOMMODATION;

To help young adults become independent and find property & accommodation opportunities, our share sites allow member businesses to ‘share’ available properties.  Where these property and accommodation opportunities are suitable for young adults (16-24) member businesses have the option to ‘flag’ these as suitable for The Gen.  This can include residential and commercial property such as student accommodation, halls of residence, first homes or business property and office space.   All accommodation is pre-approved by GB Shared for accuracy and relevance before being published to The Gen.

• EMPLOYMENT;

To help young people find employment opportunities, The Gen allows member businesses to ‘flag’ their shared vacancies for 16-24-year olds.  This creates a central employment pool of opportunities for young adults to peruse.  These vacancies can include; part-time, full-time, seasonal, apprenticeships, traineeships, kickstart and other employment opportunities.  All vacancies are pre-approved by GB Shared for accuracy and relevance before being published to The Gen.

• EDUCATION;

Education establishments across the UK who are already members of our share platforms can list themselves on The Gen in the ‘education’ pages.  This helps young adults to make better informed education choices and browse the various further and higher education opportunities.  All education providers are pre-approved by GB Shared for accuracy and relevance before being published to The Gen.

• CAREER ADVICE

Career advice is ever changing, as new job roles emerge and the required training for such roles also changes.  The Gen aims to provide up to date career advice across a range of professions, direct from business.  The Gen allows member businesses to ‘share’ career advice in video format.  Only selected businesses will be invited to record our career videos, each video will be produced and approved by GB Shared Ltd before publication to The Gen.

• AWARDS

The Gen aims to showcase awards which allow young adults to be recognised for their efforts and achievements.  Business members who already share their awards via our share platforms can ‘flag’ awards which are suitable for young adults.   Awards listed can be personal, community or business themed.   All awards are pre-approved by GB Shared for accuracy and relevance before being published to The Gen.

• EVENTS

The Gen aims to showcase events which are targeted at young adults.  Business members who already share their events via our share platforms can ‘flag’ events which are suitable for young adults / a 16-24 audience. Events listed can be personal, community or business themed.   All events are pre-approved by GB Shared for accuracy and relevance before being published to The Gen.

• LIFE SKILLS

The Gen aims to aid young adults with life skills which are often not part of the national curriculum.  Life Skills can include advice on; ‘how to open a bank account’, ‘what to look for in a first mortgage’, ‘what is a contract of employment’, ‘how do I access support for mental health etc…   The Gen allows our member businesses to ‘share’ life skills with a 16-24 audience.  All life skills are pre-approved by GB Shared for accuracy and relevance before being published to The Gen.

• OFFERS

GB Shared Ltd allows its member businesses to share offers with young adults.  These offers can include; free or discounted offers and savings on products or services to help young people find opportunities and gain value for money products & services.   All offers are pre-approved by GB Shared for accuracy and relevance before being published to The Gen.

• WORK PLACEMENTS, WORK EXPERIENCE AND INTERNSHIPS

GB Shared Ltd allows member businesses to share their work placement, work experience and graduate internships through our share sites and onto The Gen.  The Gen will list opportunities available allowing education establishments and young people to find meaningful placements and enhance employability.  All opportunities are pre-approved by GB Shared for accuracy and relevance before being published to The Gen.

• GUEST SPEAKERS

GB Shared Ltd allows member businesses ‘opt in’ to guest speaking opportunities.  This creates an online ‘bank’ of industry speaker’s which education establishments and other businesses can link with, providing easy access to industry leaders with content to inspire future generations across a range of professions.  All speaker opportunities pre-approved by GB Shared before being published to The Gen.

• GUEST TUTORS

GB Shared Ltd allows member businesses ‘opt in’ as guest teachers.  This creates an online ‘bank’ of guest teachers with which education establishments and other businesses can link.  This provides easy access to industry leaders with or without teaching qualifications to support the education sector and inspire future generations across a range of industries.  Using business professionals who can teach, adds value to curriculum delivery and ensures inclusion of the latest industry standards, enhancing education. 

• EMPLOYER PROJECTS & LIVE BRIEFS

GB Shared Ltd encourages its member businesses to share work projects and live brief opportunities direct from industry.  We know this experience enhances the employability of young adults, it further strengthens education and industry links.  All projects are pre-approved by GB Shared for accuracy and relevance.

How is The Gen funded?

The Gen, and indeed all our share platforms across the UK are free to use resources.  We measure impact, not income.  However, we do generate revenue to ensure our platforms deliver a first-class service, add real value and are continuously improved.  Whilst anyone in the world can visit our sites for free and access a plethora of support and information, only paid members can ‘share’ content to them.  Anything they share, we share, anything we share, we report on.  This is how we measure the reach and impact of collaboration & sharing.

Businesses who join their local share platform to connect, collaborate, find funding, recruit, win business, contracts, get brand awareness or find property (and much more) can also share to The Gen.  Membership fees’ fund our share platforms starts at just £149 a year.

There is no cost for access to The Gen and NO additional charge to our member businesses for sharing content to The Gen.  In 2020 GB Shared Ltd was successful in an application to Innovate UK to deliver The Gen in a global pandemic to offer a lifeline of opportunities for young people.  The Gen launched in March 2021.

The Gen does not use the personal data of businesses or young adults to promote tailored advertising to you, moreover, it’s a place of choice and equal sharing of opportunity for all.  As such, we do not use any of your data to personalise services to you. 

Our aims and expectations

Our aim is to provide a national platform for young adults which is filled with live support and opportunities direct from business, to make their journeys through work and life easier.  100% of our content is business led, live and relevant to 16-24-year olds.

Only content from paid share member businesses can be showcased on The Gen.  Businesses who join GB Shared, are expected to adhere to the GB Shared Ltd Terms of Service.  These terms set the standard for sharing; no lewd content, no personal or political opinions etc.

Paid member businesses have the extended opportunity of sharing to both their regional share platform and to The Gen.  Only content from our member businesses which is deemed as suitable for 16-24-year olds, will be approved for publication on The Gen.

Member businesses who share to a share platform will gain regional coverage, whilst sharing to The Gen can attract national coverage.

Who can use The Gen?

The Gen has four main audiences:

• Young people 16-24 who can access a plethora of information and opportunities free
• Parents who can help to guide young people through work and life
• Education Establishments who can strengthen employability prospects for learners
• Employers who can showcase their products, services & opportunities & access future talent.

Whilst anyone can visit our site, only those aged 16 and over can create a login to access certain opportunities on The Gen.  This is there to protect all parties.

We will restrict those under 16 and other non-registered users from accessing certain data like contact information of businesses. 

What can you share or access on The Gen?

We want The Gen to be a central source of support and a pool of opportunity for young adults, employers, educators and parents.  The Gen does not replicate products or services, it simply allows businesses to share and centralise opportunities.

Only content from our members businesses will appear on The Gen.

All content for The Gen is twice validated and approved by GB Shared Ltd, initially at county level before going on a local share platform, then again, to assess its suitability for The Gen, ensuring content is relevant for 16-24-year olds.

All content shared to The Gen must fall into one of the designated categories under ‘our services’.

Users of The Gen can browse our site for free and access many opportunities and vast support without creating an account.

You must be 16> to create an account on The Gen and must sign a declaration to confirm this.

Each account dashboard will allow users indicate their own preferences, including;

• Opting into job alerts by sector (we’ll email you job vacancies which are shared in your chosen sectors) each week as they are shared by businesses.
• Opting into our weekly newsletter (we’ll email a weekly newsletter with funding, job and news updates) based on that weeks sharing activity.

GB Shared reserves the right to reject or remove any content it deems in appropriate or in breach of these terms.

 

Additional Terms of Service

Updating These Terms

GB Shared is a uniquely innovative organisation on a journey of continuous improvement.  We are always exploring new ways of working and improving our services to you.  This means we may need to update these Terms of Service from time to time.

These terms will always be updated and dated on our platform.  There is no obligation for you to visit our site or create an account should you not agree with our terms of service.

Should any share member businesses or users of The Gen, seriously or repeatedly breach any of the terms herein or other related policies, we reserve the right to delete your account and remove future use.  If we act in this respect, we will inform you of your options.

Some of our products (our share sites) require members to agree to separate terms of service, these can be viewed here.