Blog
EALC partners with Speakers for Schools!
Our partnership with Speakers for Schools will work to close the opportunity gap in Bradford
Our Director, Kathryn Loftus firmly believes we have to be bold and unrelenting in our mission to champion the belief that all children should have equity of access to educational opportunities regardless of their background or the postcode in which they live. Pupils need more than ambition – they need real life opportunities to experience new things and be exposed to activities and engagement that builds self-efficacy and their social capital.
Kathryn believes everyone needs to support the social mobility of young people to help improve their life chances.
Kathryn has her own social mobility story which started when she was at school where she had an ambition of becoming an Astronaut! Then, when she was 15 years old, Kathryn wrote to the European Space Agency to ask for a work experience placement. To her amazement they wrote back and offered her a 2 week placement at their base in Belgium, but she was required to take an adult chaperone. Her parents weren’t in a financial position to send her let alone take time off work for one of them to accompany her. The door on that dream closed firmly shut as she describes because her parents were too proud to ask for help and were unable to navigate any support on offer.
Kathryn doesn’t blame them but she quickly learnt to take other opportunities that came her way, to get involved in extra curricula activities to build confidence, resilience and develop team work skills. She got involved in music, drama and Girl Guides. Infact she was the first in her family to go and graduate from university, and was the first in her family to gain a professional qualification and work abroad. Kathryn was the youngest Magistrate to be appointed to the Bradford bench in 2005 and she was the first in my family to gain a national award. This award is for public speaking, something she is passionate about because of its ability to inspire, to motivate and to develop connection. Kathryn is committed to sharing the value that good speakers bring to inspire young people to develop their own speaking confidence.
This is why she is pleased to announce that the Education Alliance for Life Chances is now be a Social Mobility Partner with Speaker for Schools, a national organisation committed to levelling the educational playing field by connecting young people with valuable work experience opportunities that promote inclusion, diversity, and equal access to professional pathways.
Speakers for Schools Social Mobility Partnerships allow organisations who support Speakers for Schools, the opportunity to showcase their commitment to social mobility. Social mobility is key to improving life chances, our key mission for our Education Alliance for Life Chances.
Kathryn says:
"We are proud to be a Speakers for Schools Social Mobility Partner and support their UK charity in our shared mission to close the opportunity gap and level-up the workplace on socioeconomic diversity –opening doors to career opportunities that were previously closed by supporting fully funded life-changing work experience for students from schools in Bradford starting in our Act Locally areas”.