Chancerygate takes on Yorkshire Three Peaks Challenge to raise £30k for Action Tutoring

When Chancerygate was brainstorming on activities to help raise funds for Action Tutoring, finding a pursuit that played to the strength of the workforce was fundamental.

Making the final choice between a charity ball or a fitness adventure was hard, but Amanda believes the ultimate decision to negotiate the Yorkshire Three Peaks Challenge was the right one as half the workforce expressed interest after the announcement.

We have quite a strong and fit workforce. We thought an adventure would be better and will help with team-building. Plus with changing Covid-19 guidelines, having a huge gathering came with a risk. We went with the challenge

Amanda Walker, head of corporate social responsibility at Chancerygate – the UK’s largest multi-unit urban logistics developer and asset manager.

The Yorkshire Three Peaks challenge is a circular walk that encompasses three major hills – Pen-Y-Ghent, Whernside, and Ingleborough – in the Yorkshire Dales National Park. It is a 24-mile round trip route and includes 5,200ft of ascent.

A total of 24 daring employees took part in the conquest and 18 successfully completed the course in under 10 hours.

It can get quite emotional, the walk pushes your limits. The first peak went really well but it became more difficult towards the end. However, doing it as a team made it easier, and as a way to raise money for Action Tutoring to support more disadvantaged children was a motivating factor.

Ada Ioannidis-Mann, marketing manager of Chancerygate, who took part in the challenge

Chancerygate raised a total of £30,000 from its employees and network including business partners and suppliers, who donated towards supporting the cause. The donation could cater for a full academic year’s worth of tutoring for 77 pupils or purchase 5,000 workbooks that will benefit thousands of pupils.

Additionally, some Chancerygate employees volunteer weekly as subject tutors on Action Tutoring programmes in schools.

Susannah Hardyman, founder and CEO of Action Tutoring, said the donation will help expand tutoring access to more young people facing disadvantage.

The funds will enable us to support more children who are facing disadvantage with additional help to make meaningful academic progress. This will, in turn, help increase their life chances and open more doors to future opportunities in education and employment.

Susannah Hardyman

On what lessons she learned from the Yorkshire Three Peaks adventure, Ada said beyond investing in good hiking boots, staying positive and motivating each other is a sure way to conquer the hills. “Be positive and don’t leave anyone behind as you do it. Be a team player.”

Amanda urges businesses to support the inclusion of more people from diverse backgrounds by partnering with like-minded charities to benefit society as a whole.

Through volunteering and fundraising, every business can make a difference in young lives.

Donate or raise funds for our mission to give more disadvantaged pupils the additional academic support they need to get a pass grade to progress into further education or employment.

Be bold and cheeky: Five secrets to holding a successful charity fundraiser

Ever fancied raising money for charity but had no idea where to start? Never fear! Student volunteer tutor, Rebecca, shares her tips and tricks on how she held a successful fundraiser for Action Tutoring amid a cost of living crisis

Rebecca was looking through volunteering opportunities listed on her Student Union’s website when she stumbled across Action Tutoring. Throwing herself into the experience, Rebecca tutored on three online programmes, supporting pupils in Year 11, Year 5 and Year 7.

It was a nice way to break free from lectures. I really bonded with the pupils.

When Rebecca’s ability to commit to a full tutoring programme reduced in her final year studying English Literature at Newcastle University, she remained determined to find a way to continue supporting disadvantaged pupils beyond volunteering.

I was reading about the attainment gap and thought it’d be nice to make a difference in other ways than tutoring

As the newly appointed Fundraising & Charity Officer for the Student Union’s Creative Writing Society, the answer was obvious: hold a charity fundraiser! Here’s what she learned along the way:

• Make use of charity resources

Rebecca’s primary point of contact from Action Tutoring was a Programme Coordinator in Newcastle, who worked in partnership with the Fundraising and Marketing Teams to supply her with all the necessary materials needed to support her event. These included pre-written copy about Action Tutoring’s work for use in posters and social media posts, as well as leaflets and posters for use on the big night.

Honestly, there’s nothing they could have done more! Action Tutoring was really helpful and supportive, so definitely a good charity to raise money for!

Rebecca said, reflecting on the support she received.

• Don’t let inexperience put you off

A self-confessed novice, Rebecca laughs as she tells me the only fundraising experience she had prior to this was a teenage bake sale. First piece of advice?

Don’t be afraid to give it a go!

Rebecca said, in an optimistic tone. 

Ideas often come organically once you commit to the project, which was the case for Rebecca. Toying with the idea of a monologue night, before concluding it would be “a little bit too exclusive”, Rebecca and the Creative Writing committee eventually agreed on the theme of their event: ‘An Evening of Creativity.’

The team quickly called on budding performers to submit their entry pieces.  Before long, they had the Gilbert & Sullivan Society and the Theatre Society on board too for an exciting night which would showcase the talent of budding writers, poets, actors and opera singers alike.

• Be flexible and persistent

Next on the agenda was finding a location willing to host her fundraiser, which was proving slightly arduous. Rebecca recalls emailing, in her words, a lot of bars and other potential venues across Newcastle but received few responses. Unphased, she decided to change tact and target university buildings.

Her persistence finally paid off when one student union venue, (aptly called ‘The Venue’), agreed to host Rebecca’s fundraiser for free. Moral of the story? Don’t be afraid to change your approach if plan A isn’t working out.

• Teamwork makes the dream work

With performers recruited and venue secured, next was perhaps the most important step; promotion. How did Rebecca and her team achieve this? Collaboration.

Don’t be afraid to ask for help; if people want to help, just say yes. I’m not good at arts, but somebody from Gilbert and Sullivant had experience of making posters so they did that for us, which was very nice! I printed it out and put it all around the university, especially the student union. We also had digital posters in our uni’, and we managed to get it on that as well. Then, we just did a lot of social media!”

Rebecca recounted

To ensure they reached the biggest audience they could, the savvy fundraiser also reached out to similar student societies such as the Film, Writing and Reading Societies, who agreed to promote the event on their own social media channels too. Collaboration proved mutually beneficial for all participating societies as the event, Rebecca explains, “acted as promotion [for them] too.”

• “Be bold and cheeky!”

Asking for money can feel altogether rather “un-British”, but let’s not forget that the purpose of this event was, after all, to raise funds! Tickets cost £4 for members and £5 for non-members, but where Rebecca’s team really made a difference was in their brave strategy to request that performers also bought a ticket. 

I felt so bad doing it but we said “let’s be bold and cheeky, if people really don’t like it, we’ll change our minds” and people seemed to be quite up for it; because it was for a good cause.

An Evening of Creativity

The big day rolled around quickly and despite pre-show nerves, an incredible 42 students, including three Action Tutoring Programme Coordinators from Newcastle, turned up, all eager to be entertained.

It was quite a little boost to get that number in the end as we weren’t expecting it, what with the cost of living crisis.

Rebecca said, with a grin

Programme Coordinator, Hannah, took to the stage to kick off with a brief presentation giving some context to Action Tutoring’s work and mission before Gilbert and Sullivan actors opened the show with a dazzling operatic performance. “It was really cool and also unexpected because I’ve never seen it before!” enthuses Rebecca.

With performances underway, she could finally sit back, relax and enjoy the show. “It was really lovely to see it all come together….once it had started, there was nothing else I could do,” recalls Rebecca. Overall, the event raised £176 for Action Tutoring, which is enough to provide 29 pupils with session workbooks or cover the cost of 17 volunteer tutor DBS checks!

The hidden benefit of fundraisers

With an endearing modesty and eagerness to give due credit to those who helped her, it’d be easy to underplay what Rebecca achieved, but we shouldn’t. The gruelling cost of living crisis should not be underestimated. Charities nationwide are struggling to raise the funds they so desperately need to support their beneficiaries, while supporting their own increased running costs.

More than raising vital funds, Rebecca and her team helped raise awareness of the increasing challenges and disproportionate educational hurdles facing children from low-income backgrounds, prompting a much needed dialogue on an issue that is more urgent than ever.

The attainment gap between pupils on free school meals (FSM) and their more affluent peers is now at its highest level in a decade. A staggering 29.1% of all pupils in the North East alone are currently deemed eligible for free school meals, with certain areas in the region, such as North Tyneside, recording some of the highest GCSE attainment gaps in England in 2022; a sobering insight into regional disadvantage.

Not only did Rebecca’s fundraiser inspire students living on stretched budgets to engage with charitable giving, but she also succeeded in bringing people together to connect, to laugh, to marvel, to experience live performances again and to reclaim just a bit of the social interactions they had all been so unfairly robbed of after two years of a global pandemic.

This is the hidden benefit of fundraising – the opportunity it provides to ignite social connections, challenge yourself and bring people together to support a common cause. I finish by asking her if she has any final pieces of advice for future fundraisers.

Just go for it! It’s going to work or it’s not and more often than not, it’ll end up working. What’s the worst that can happen?

Become a volunteer tutor with Action Tutoring and help disadvantaged children improve their academic strength and build a better future. With just one hour a week, you can volunteer to tutor pupils in English or maths at primary or secondary level, online or in-person. No previous teaching experience is required and we will provide you with all the resources you need.

New research shows glaring inequalities in tutoring

Since the Covid-19 pandemic disrupted education in March 2020, tutoring has expanded significantly to help address the lost learning time. With schools shut down for months throughout multiple waves of the pandemic, the National Tutoring Programme (NTP) was introduced as a way to augment learning and help pupils, mostly those facing disadvantage, to catch up.

A new report, Tutoring: the new landscape, published by the Sutton Trust today has thrown more light on how the Covid-19 pandemic has shifted the dynamics of tutoring and the persistent inequalities underlying its delivery and impact.

The report details the changes seen in both private and school-based tutoring, in the aftermath of the pandemic and examines tutoring impact, using the latest data from the Ipsos’ Young People Omnibus and recent COSMO studies.

Tutoring expansion

The data reveals that private tutoring is at its highest levels since 2005, with 30% of young people aged 11-16 receiving private tuition, up from 27% before the pandemic. Though many schools had been using the intervention prior to the introduction of the NTP, the government’s roll-out played a significant role in its growth. Before the pandemic, 10% of secondary school leaders reported tutoring was their priority for Pupil Premium spending but by 2022, this figure had more than tripled to 34%.

About 52% of young people agreed that their progress in school suffered as a result of COVID-19, with about 24% of young people reporting to have received tutoring from their school in the 2021/22 school year, up from 18% in the previous pre-pandemic year.

The significant expansion mirrors Action Tutoring’s delivery, which has more than tripled in reach today, compared to the 2019-20 academic year, in response to the rising demand for learning support during the pandemic.

Socioeconomic differences

The report also demonstrates how in-school tutoring, through the NTP, has helped to increase access to tutoring for pupils who typically would not be able to afford it.

According to the COSMO data, 32% of pupils from the most well-off households by income received private tutoring, compared to 13% for the worst-off. However, this trend is dramatically different when looking at the take-up of in-school tutoring through the NTP. About 32% of those in the worst-off households reported taking up extra tuition in school, compared to 22% in the most well-off.

Thanks to the expansion of in-school tutoring, the proportion of pupils accessing any form of tutoring is now almost level between the most and least deprived, with 39% of those from the most well-off households accessing tutoring, compared to 37% of those from the worst-off. 

The report shows how the NTP is allowing a much wider group of pupils to access tutoring, and if issues with its targeting and delivery quality can be addressed, it holds the potential to level the playing field between the most and least disadvantaged in the long term.

Geographical disparities

The report also showed the stark regional difference in the use of private tuition, with 46% of pupils in London reported to have had private tutoring, compared to 21% in Wales and 16% in the North East. London at 27% is substantially ahead of other regions in tutoring rate, compared to under 12% in the North East.

This finding reflects the existing inequalities in the geographical distribution of private tutoring across the country, however, the introduction of the NTP tipped the scale in the favour of pupils who couldn’t afford it in these areas.

The data shows that regions with the lowest rates of private tutoring, such as the North East, East Midlands, and Yorkshire, have the highest rates of in-school tutoring take-up via the NTP.

Applying recommendations

As a Tuition Partner that existed long before the NTP and advocated for its introduction, we are in full agreement with the recommendations in the report including establishing the NTP for the longer term, stricter targets for disadvantaged young people, cancelling the subsidy reduction, improving quality of content and expanding to more remote areas.

The real long-term gain of the NTP is in closing the widening attainment gap and that can only be achieved if it is embedded permanently in our education system. Many disadvantaged pupils are in need of tutoring support, and making the NTP a permanent fixture will reap long-term benefits to the nation, rather than it being a stopgap measure in education recovery efforts.

Also, re-targeting the NTP more at disadvantaged pupils is the key way to tackle the attainment gap. Reinstating and enforcing Pupil Premium targets that were scrapped by the Department of Education and introducing incentives for uptake will help keep the focus on disadvantaged pupils and ensure accountability.

The report backs our call for the NTP’s regional expansion to more remote or ‘cold spots’, where tutoring is lacking. The capacity of Tuition Partners can be supported to expand our reach to underserved areas and deliver high-quality academic support nationally, especially in hard-to-reach areas.

The report’s recommendation for the planned subsidy reduction to be rescinded is consistent with our ongoing advocacy efforts for the funding to be maintained or increased, as schools continue to battle with budget squeezes. There’s a real risk that without additional funding, rates of uptake in schools will drop sharply upending the gains made to level the playing field.

Game-changer

There is no doubt that the NTP has widened access to disadvantaged pupils, who would otherwise not be in a position to afford it.

We are at a point in our education history where the NTP could significantly narrow the attainment gap between disadvantaged pupils and their better-off peers.

The recommendations in the Sutton Trust report, if applied to the NTP, will be game-changing to reversing inequalities in education across England, benefitting the life chances of thousands of pupils.

Changing the future of disadvantaged pupils in Chester & Westminster

In a classroom at Blacon High School in Chester, Lillie listens attentively as her tutor reads the first practice activity in an English tutoring session. She asks questions for clarity on evaluating language and narrative throughout the session. 

Lillie is one of forty pupils in Years 10 and 11 in Blacon High receiving weekly tutoring support from Action Tutoring. Although her favourite subject is Graphics Production, passing the English GCSE is essential to furthering her education. Lillie believes the personalised academic assistance is making a real difference for her.

With the extra help, I feel more confident with my answers in class and when doing my homework. The fact that the tutoring sessions are one-on-one or in small groups means I get to ask my tutor any questions I have, without feeling embarrassed about getting it wrong in front of a whole class.

Lillie

Improve young lives

With a new grant from the Westminster Foundation to support the work of Action Tutoring over the next five years in Chester and Westminster, the education charity will expand tutoring access to more pupils in need of additional academic support. The partnership includes a grant of £500,000 to fund tutoring provision targeted at disadvantaged pupils in nine schools in both cities to help improve their subject knowledge, confidence, and outcomes.

Providing maths and English tutoring to pupils at risk of leaving school without basic qualifications is a priority, particularly following the disruption in education amid the Covid-19 pandemic and the widening attainment gap. I am delighted that with our grant Action Tutoring can continue to deliver this important support in Westminster and Chester to help improve the futures of so many young people.

Kate Brown, Westminster Foundation & Philanthropy Director

Positive impact

Rachel Hudson has been the headteacher of Blacon High School for four years. After observing the consistent improvement in the performance of pupils receiving tutoring support, she said pupils have gone on to take more ownership of their learning, even beyond just the core subjects.

“The tutoring sessions have helped students to achieve or exceed their target grades in maths and English. The tutors have built strong relationships with our students, are flexible in their approach to tutoring, and have shown a genuine understanding of the challenges they face with learning. Tutoring has had a positive impact on their confidence and performance across the board, enabling them to go into successful courses and pathways.”

Rachel Hudson

Change the trajectory

Since its establishment in 2012, Action Tutoring has supported over 26,000 primary and secondary school pupils across England with the help of over 11,500 volunteer tutors. The charity is on track to support at least a further 6,000 pupils this academic year, through in-person and online tutoring delivery.

The attainment gap alarmingly stands at its widest level in a decade which means more young people are leaving school without reaching expected standards. The odds are even worse for children from disadvantaged backgrounds. With this grant, we can positively change the trajectory for thousands of pupils in Chester and Westminster  by delivering tutoring support to unlock their potential and increase their life chances.

Susannah Hardyman, founder, and CEO of Action Tutoring

With disadvantaged people at risk of slipping through the net to become not in education, employment and training (NEET), the partnership will enable more disadvantaged pupils to receive the needed academic support to pass their SATs and GCSEs and to progress in further education, training, and employment.

Lillie’s dream career is to be an airline cabin crew member in the future and she thinks the consistent interactivity during her tutoring session is already steering her in the right direction by building her confidence level.

“My tutoring sessions have made me feel less anxious about talking to people I’ve never met before. This will definitely help when I have to speak to hundreds of new people every day.”

Lillie