deloitte volunteers making a big impact
As part of our three-year charity partnership, the Deloitte East Midlands team are funding two On Track to Achieve programmes at schools in the Nottingham area. Athlete mentor and former BMX world champion Kelvin Batey is working with students from The Oakwood Academy and Hall Park Academy to improve their confidence and resilience and equip them with a winning mindset.
One of the many benefits of having an organisation like Deloitte involved with a programme is the additional value it can bring to students. Volunteers from Deloitte have been coming into the schools during sessions and supporting Kelvin with the delivery as well as offering their own experiences and lessons from their life and career.
Research shows that the more interactions young people have with professionals, the more their life chances increase. Additionally, young adults who recalled ‘four or more employer contacts’ are five times less likely to be NEET (not in education, employment or training) than those who had no involvement. The longer-term relationships with our athlete mentors is crucial for the success of our programmes but the short term impact volunteers can have can be huge. We caught up with some of partner Deloitte’s team following their visits to funded school programmes in the East Midlands, with athlete mentor Kelvin Batey.
Lyka Quipit volunteered at the Hall Park Academy:
“I found it rewarding and inspiring talking to the pupils to see what kind of local issues they are concerned about. I enjoyed the afternoon session where we were able to work with the pupils one on one and get to understand them better and know them personally. In the afternoon session, they had to make a presentation on a local issue, and whilst I gave my pupil guidance, she was really able to make the PowerPoint her own and I could see her gaining confidence, especially when she delivered her presentation.”
Students from Hall Park Academy and Oakwood Academy working with their volunteers and planning their social action projects.
Benefits from volunteering are two way, it’s certainly not just the students that benefit from the sessions. It can be incredibly inspiring to meet and work with young people and being able to offer that help, guidance or just potentially just listening to what they have to say. Being able to see first-hand the impact of the investment your company has made and being able to ‘give back’ to your local community can be immensely rewarding and is great for employee engagement.
Kelvin said about the volunteers:
“It was really good to have volunteers from Deloitte at the sessions at the schools, both with the wider group, but also in one-on-one sessions with the students. It was really useful to have a professional from another industry help ‘guide’ the group discussions and using their expertise in putting a powerful presentation together was really helpful for the students when it came to developing their social action projects. It was great having them with me in the sessions and am looking forward to them visiting again.”
Gemma Horsley has volunteered at Oakwood Academy and had this to say after her first session:
“It was really rewarding to see how the project is helping all of the students involved. They were engaged and many shared personal stories. Kelvin was very engaging and kept the sessions fun whilst also covering off some hard topics. I look forward to returning in a few weeks to see the progress made over the next few sessions!”
There are a number of ways that organisations can get involved with The Trust and become a Champion in their Corner for young people. From funding programmes like Deloitte, through engaging our athlete mentors to inspire and motivate your workforce, to taking part in Team Building events like Survival Island or our Sports Days, we believe we have something to offer every organisation. To find out more, please do get in touch at fundraising@damekellyholmestrust.org