KFC Australia launches youth charity

KFC Australia has launched its own charity to tackle the declining confidence amongst Australia’s youth.

The Charity, KFC Youth Foundation, will work to raise funds for its partner organisations so that together they can ensure young Australians have the confidence, support and skills to build a bright future and succeed in life.

This comes after a new research, the ‘KFC Youth Confidence Report’, found that nearly half of all young Australians are experiencing a lack of confidence. The report also found that two thirds of respondents see their future as bleak and 44 per cent have a desire to improve but don’t know how.

KFC Australia’s Managing Director, Nikki Lawson, said: “We have seen first-hand from our own people that confident, young Australians have the potential to achieve great things. We firmly believe confidence helps youths to thrive in the world.”

The KFC Youth Foundation will work in partnership with youth organisations such as Reach, Youngcare, StreetWork, Whitelion and ReachOut to raise critical funds that will be used to implement confidence skills and support networks for young people.

Despite young Australians being the most digitally connected, the report found one in five don’t feel confident to speak with anyone about their mental health, in spite of agreeing that Australia is more open to the discussion.

The majority of the surveyed young Australians reported their hesitancy came from a general belief that influential forces, such as the media and older Australians, do not understand or listen to them. This is on the back of 86 per cent of older Australians reporting the nation’s youths are more confident than youths 30 years ago.

The findings recommend people in power reconsider the way they engage with Australian youths and encourage young people to set goals for their future. Currently 44 per cent of respondents believe the government doesn’t make decisions with the objective of leaving Australia a better place for them.

“Creating an environment that empowers and supports young people has long been a cause close to KFC’s heart,” Lawson said. “When people under 25 make up 90 per cent of your team, it’s clearly a no brainer.”

The KFC Youth Foundation is an extension of prior work KFC Australia has committed to in the past, including initiatives designed to create and implement a range of tools and training exercises intended to help build the confidence needed for adulthood.

“KFC has a long history of instilling confidence in young people,” Lawson said. “We hire thousands of young people in the country – over 35,000 actually – and have seen the difference that confidence makes in their lives.

“The KFC Youth Foundation is an incredibly exciting opportunity to go beyond our restaurants and help to foster confidence in more young Australians.”