Rekindling the act of generosity to celebrate Giving Tuesday

When the concept of Giving Tuesday was born in 2012 in New York, the motive was to encourage people to do good and cause a shift towards celebrating radical generosity. Today, it’s blossomed into a global movement that inspires millions of people to donate their time, money, and skills for the greater good of communities in need.

Giving Tuesday falls on 29th November this year, and annually follows Thanksgiving, Black Friday, and Cyber Monday – a peak shopping season of the year –  with the hope that charities will gain the attention of people after their shopping sprees to attract donations and volunteer sign-ups.

Everyone has something to give – skills, knowledge, money, time, and their voice among others – towards a cause, campaign, or issue they care about.

However, the success of charitable giving hinges on a range of external factors. When people feel their personal financial situation is good, they are more likely to assist charities with their money and skills. Similarly, if the economy is moving in a positive direction, more people are willing to make more financial donations and give their time to charities.

Over the past year, emerging from a major pandemic, rising inflation and the costs of the war in Ukraine have all affected the cost of living negatively, limiting what people are able to give.

According to Charities Aid Foundation’s (CAF) 2022 UK Giving Report, the trend of fewer people giving compared to pre-pandemic levels seems to have been established. For every month of the year in 2021, the proportion of people making a donation was lower than the equivalent month in 2019. The results from 2022 so far follow a similar pattern of declined levels of giving, with the exception of March 2022 which saw a record monthly donation average in response to the war and refugee crisis in Ukraine.

More cause for optimism

In the midst of external challenges, there is more cause for optimism. Just as we collectively rose to the challenge of the pandemic to find a way, we can support one another and help charities adapt to expand their impact. With the academic attainment gap at its widest in ten years at both primary and secondary levels of education, the demand for tutoring support from schools is continuing to grow. We cannot look on as more disadvantaged children are unable to meet expected performance standards and likely to face limited life chances in pursuing careers.

With your help, no matter how little, we can turn things around by ensuring more children get the additional academic support they need, reach more schools in cold spots across the country, and in the long term, help to narrow the academic attainment gap between disadvantaged children and their better-off peers.

Be proud to give

It’s the time of the year to join something bigger, make a difference, and leave a lasting impact on the lives of vulnerable children. Make Giving Tuesday count and be proud to donate, volunteer or add your voice to a good cause, notwithstanding the challenging economic circumstances today.

Reconnect with your purpose and rekindle the spirit of generosity this Giving Tuesday to find a way to give back your time, efforts, or money. Celebrate the action of making a difference as simple acts of kindness and generosity have the power to inspire and raise hopes for many disadvantaged people.

Here’s how you can give and support our work:

Donate to our Big Give Christmas Challenge

We launch our Big Give Christmas Challenge  – the UK’s biggest match funding campaign – on Giving Tuesday to raise funds to support our impact work. From midday on Tuesday, 29th November to Tuesday, 6th December, all donations made by you to Action Tutoring will be doubled, meaning one donation = twice the impact.

This year marks ten years of the Big Give Christmas Challenge and we believe your generosity will be shown in helping us raise funds to support our fight for quality and equitable education for every child facing disadvantage – #ThatsMyWhy!

Watch our Big Give Christmas Challenge 2022 campaign video on YouTube to find out more about why we do what we do. Kindly make your donation, no matter how small, to our Big Give Christmas Challenge via Action Tutoring’s campaign page. Tell us why you support our mission by sharing a post of your motivation with #ThatsMyWhy on social media and tag us.

With your contribution, 2023 can be a more impactful year, where more disadvantaged pupils receive the additional academic support they need to bounce back following the pandemic and excel for a better future.

Volunteer as a tutor

Volunteering with us as a tutor is another great way of helping disadvantaged pupils to improve their academic performance and meet expected standards. Volunteer to tutor pupils in English or maths at primary or secondary level, online or in-person, for one hour each week. No previous teaching experience is required and we will provide you with all the resources you need.

Share our cause

If you are unable to give your time or make a donation, you can support our cause by sharing the word. Simply share this post with friends, family and on your social media platforms, if you can.

As we celebrate Giving Tuesday, let’s remind ourselves to continue supporting causes close to our hearts by giving to help tackle the challenges that face us collectively. The heart of kindness and acts of generosity is vital to building a better future for everyone.

Diversity and Inclusion at Action Tutoring

As a charity that values and celebrates diversity and inclusion and champions opportunities for all young people, we always strive to create an environment of respect in which every individual is welcomed, valued, and empowered to be their authentic selves.

Diversity and Inclusion is more than simple policies applied in a workplace. It is a way of thinking and acting, so we can establish fairer working conditions for every employee.

What is Diversity and Inclusion in the workplace?

In order to best define diversity in the workplace, we have to consider all the different characteristics that we as unique individuals have; such as our race, age, gender and sexual orientation. However, we also have differences when it comes to our experiences, talents, skills or opinions.

Inclusivity enables us to explore these differences together in a healthy, positive and non-judgemental environment. It means understanding one another and embracing the differences, not just tolerating them.

The CIPD advises that an environment is inclusive when people feel valued and accepted in their team and in the wider organisation, without having to conform. To achieve these is an organisational effort.

Why is D&I essential? 

Equal access to opportunities for all people is both the right thing to do and a legal obligation under the Equalities Act 2010. It is important to continuously consider, so we don’t exclude any potential tutors or employees.

As a charity, we appreciate the power and importance of bringing different people together. When we feel included, appreciated and celebrated, we are more likely to unleash our potential.

What D&I policies and initiatives do we have at Action Tutoring?

We are committed to ensuring that all applicants are treated fairly throughout the recruitment and training process.

 We endeavour to make sure our content on our social media channels and website is accessible to everyone, for example by using plain English and avoid using figures of speech and idioms, and using text instead of graphics when sharing important informationYou can learn more on a previous blog about how inclusive communication is implemented in our organisation. 

Action Tutoring has a D&I working group, where staff members meet regularly and discuss different ways that we can improve the way we work together. It’s a free and open space for everyone to share ideas.

In our additional resources for volunteer tutors, we have included a Diversity and Inclusion tutor code of conduct in order to make sure that everyone is treated fairly and in accordance with Equal Opportunities policies. 

We have regular internal “Broaden Your Horizons” sessions to discuss and reflect on current issues that affect us all. Session content has included Black British history, “fatphobia” and linguistic differences between regions in England. 

We have conducted audits into the racial and gender diversity of authors and names used in our tutoring resources, have increased this diversity in some of our resources and have established targets to continue this work over time.

We believe that a true inclusive community doesn’t just have a diversity of people to display, but it has a diversity of people who are involved, supported, empowered and trusted by everyone else.

Interested in working for us? View our current vacancies. We do accept speculative CVs for our Programme Coordinator roles – you can click here to see a job description).

Or if you’re interested in volunteering as a tutor, click below!