SPEAKERS FOR SCHOOLS
This organization has already been registered
Someone in your organization has already registered and setup an account. would you like to join their team?Profile owner : d*********t@s****************s.o*g
Mission Statement
Speakers for Schools was founded in 2010 by ITV’s Political Editor Robert Peston with a mission to level the playing field for young people. We aim to end educational inequality by giving disadvantaged young people in state schools access to the same networks as the top fee-paying schools in the UK through inspirational talks and work placements. that improve life chances. Our vision is of a world where young people can access the opportunities and skills that will enable them to achieve their potential. Our Founder, Robert Peston expresses our aim and ambition as follows: “At Speakers for Schools we are all about preparing school students to thrive and prosper in this dizzying, confusing world - by organising free talks in schools from wise and inspirational people, and by opening the highest quality work experience placements for the most underprivileged teenagers. We are helping those young people become the most creative, adaptable, and confident they can be so that this rapidly changing and the unpredictable world does not put insuperable obstacles in the way of their self-fulfillment but is a place of exciting unlimited opportunity.”
About This Cause
Speakers for Schools is a leading educational charity that brings inspirational speakers into schools to speak to children and young people, inspiring them to succeed, and we also facilitate meaningful and impactful work placements. We prioritise high-need schools that have high numbers of disadvantaged young people, evidenced for example by the numbers of young people receiving free school meals, or in receipt of pupil premium. We give students a leg-up in their futures. We are passionate about providing high-quality Programmes to children and young people, and making it seamless and simple for young people, speakers, educators, and employers to get involved. Our Programmes are entirely free to schools and colleges UK-wide. Our speaker and employer network is comprised of some of the most inspiring people and outstanding organisations in the UK. They inspire children and young people in schools and colleges UK-wide, creating and delivering the opportunities that can transform the lives of disadvantaged young people for the better, creating lasting and sustainable change. Having reached our 1 millionth young person in 10 years, our ambition is now to have a positive impact on 1 million young people per year by 2023, accelerating our reach and impact to continue support for children and young people who have faced huge difficulties and disruption to their lives, education, and employment prospects, as a result of Covid-19. We have three core strands to our work: • Inspiration Programme (Speakers) • Experience Programme (Work Placements) • Youth Card – launched March 2021 Our Inspiration and Experience Programmes have all run virtually since April 2020 following adjustments that we made to our work to ensure that we could support disadvantaged young people throughout Covid-19. This has enabled us to ease the isolation of children and young people and to continue providing inspiration and experience to them at this hugely difficult and disruptive time in their lives. On our Inspiration Programme, Speakers donate their time for free to speak to audiences of young people. Our Speakers represent the pinnacle of achievement in their sectors, which cover education, health, science, engineering, the arts, sport, business and finance. They include Andy Haldane, David Dein, Naomi Campbell, Bill Gates, Mark Carney, Martha Lane Fox, Stormzy and Brian Cox. Our Speakers engage with young people in schools, inspiring and motivating them, sharing life lessons, wisdom, and tips on how to succeed and inspiring them to achieve a future they might previously have considered beyond their reach. “Speakers for Schools has helped to raise the aspirations of our students, with the speakers reinforcing that they were once like them and dispelled many myths”. Teacher hosting talks In 2017 we launched Experience, our work placements project, as we found that our Speakers created opportunities to connect with high calibre companies. We used this opportunity to give young people high impact, valuable work experience. Our Experience Programme opens up work experience at the UK’s top organisations for students who have the least access. We help employers reach these students and we make it easier to set-up and create meaningful placements. We target the most disadvantaged schools in order to help more vulnerable students. Employers offer placements in two formats; 1-Week Placements that help students better understand the world of work, gain skills and insights and also 1-Day Insight Days give young people an insight to an industry, improving knowledge and expanding horizons. The project has a separate website and portal with workplace opportunities targeted at students without personal connections into industry. High-quality, mutually beneficial work experience is vital for bridging the gap between education and fulfilling work. Research has shown that 1 week can make a transformative difference to a student’s workplace skill set as well as their aspiration. ''Growing up on the council estate does not stop you from thinking BIG. We should not let our background to deter dreaming BIG.'' – Young Person’s Feedback Our third Programme is our Youth Card for young people. Speakers for Schools recently won the licence to represent the European Youth Card Association (EYCA) in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. The EYCA programme aims to remove barriers that young people face through a curated discount programme. Building on the EYCA programme’s success, which is already in 40 countries and with 7.2 million cardholders, we are launching our own branded version in partnership with UK Youth and Young Enterprise that we are calling the Youth Card. The Youth Card will offer an app for young people to use that is packed with meaningful discounts and unique experiences for 11-25-year-olds to access. We are very excited at the opportunities to support the social mobility of disadvantaged young people, which will include signposting children and young people to the services and programmes offered by Speakers for Schools, Young Enterprise, and UK Youth. “I would like to do more stuff like this! It was brilliant. Maybe something on podcasts or video journalism.” – Young Person’s feedback It was fitting that in 2020, the year of our 10th Anniversary, we supported our 1 millionth young person. However, the detrimental impact that Covid-19 has had on the life chances of the most disadvantaged in our society has persuaded us to multiply our efforts to level the playing field for all young people. Our work is needed more than ever because the impact of Covid-19 has been simply devastating for so many children and young people - 9 million furloughed, climbing jobless totals and bankrupt companies. Many children and young people have been at home, unable to attend schools and colleges, isolated, alone, and deeply scared and anxious for their uncertain futures. Their education has been severely disrupted, and their opportunities to gain work experience or employment have been severely curtailed. For young people leaving school and college, they will struggle to find employment in an increasingly competitive job market. The negative impacts of unemployment on young people are well documented and include poverty, poor physical and mental health and reduced social interaction. Whilst all young people attending state secondary schools and colleges can participate in our programme, it will be particularly beneficial to high need young people, as we know that the impacts of Covid-19 will hit the most disadvantaged young people hardest. “Speakers for Schools is a terrific organisation and I have loved being a part of it – both as a speaker and as a patron. I have gained at least as much as I have given in my conversations with children. I would really encourage everyone to get involved – as a speaker or to offer work placements. These opportunities could be absolutely transformational in the life of a child.” Sharon White Chairman, John Lewis Partnership and Patron, Speakers for Schools Speakers for Schools was created to support disadvantaged young people in state secondary schools to overcome educational disadvantage, to develop and raise their aspirations and to foster and realise ambition. This has never been more important given the challenges of Covid-19 in terms of a damaged economy and reduced employment opportunities. We make the inaccessible accessible to disadvantaged young people through our joined-up programmes that raise aspirations, engage young people, offer tangible experience, and open a world of opportunities. We have been really successful in delivering virtual talks and are on target to support over 60,000 young people with virtual work placements, but we can and must do more. The detrimental impact that Covid-19 has had on the life chances of the most disadvantaged in our society has persuaded us that we must continue with the good work that we are doing but also our networks, our opportunities, and our experience to reach more young people, give them the support they need, deepen the impact, and create a lasting legacy for young people. We hope that you will join us in supporting children and young people through our meaningful, impactful Programmes at this critical time. “I am so inspired after that talk, I could cry. I really want to pursue my dreams now” Young Person’s feedback