“We think it’s a very good idea to arrange for sixth formers to spend time doing short stints of tuition and supporting teachers in the classroom.  The closeness in age between tutor and child can have a really potent impact.  City Year’s full time volunteers are aged between 18 and 25 and they act as ‘near-peer mentors’ to pupils. This big brother or sister relationship definitely helps children to learn.  MPs are right to emphasise that the quality of teaching is critical to the success of their pupils, but we would also add that very high quality teaching support, in the shape of young, positive, role models, can make a massive difference to children’s learning.”

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The funding means that City Year is able to recruit thirty young people to act as tutors, mentors and role models in schools in deprived areas of London.  The funding also enables City Year to step up preparations for expansion outside London.

City Year is London’s leading youth and education charity and the only organisation to offer full-time volunteering in schools.  Young people are deployed in teams to work full time, four days per week as role models in primary and secondary schools in deprived neighbourhoods.  Known as corps members, the young people provide academic, emotional and pastoral support to pupils. The aim is to have a positive impact on pupil’s academic progress, behaviour and attendance.

On Fridays, the corps members attend the City Year HQ and benefit from a year-long leadership development programme consisting of more than 300 hours of training, mentoring and development activity.  This personal development is focussed on supporting the corps members to be successful in education or employment after their time with City Year.

City Year Chief Executive, Sophie Livingstone said:

“We are delighted that our application to the Social Action Fund has been successful.  The funding is a huge boost and means that City Year can expand into more London schools, support 2,700 extra children and deliver more than 20,000 hours of additional support to teachers.

“Thanks to their passion and energy, our corps members are having a tremendous impact in schools. Every week we see evidence that pupil behaviour and engagement with learning is improving.

“City Year in the US is proven to work. And we know from feedback from head teachers, pupils and corps members that City Year is having an exciting impact in London.  We are very ambitious to expand so that we can make a difference to thousands of more children’s lives.  The Social Action Fund enables us to partner with more London schools and explore expansion to another city.

Minister for Civil Society Nick Hurd said:

“Through these funds we are backing ideas that will inspire more people to get involved. Whether it be taking the chance to help a young person or transform a neglected space, they will be making a positive difference. That’s going to be good for them and their communities. This is also good for the taxpayer because for alongside the Government’s investment, partners are investing almost £15m.”

Cabinet Office Minister Rt. Hon Francis Maude MP recently visited Whitmore Primary School in Hackney to see firsthand City Year corps members working in partnership with the school’s teaching staff.  After the visit Mr Maude said:

“City Year volunteers are inspirational role models who are making a fantastic difference to the schools they are working in.  City Year is making a difference in two ways.  It is helping children with their school work and attitude to life and learning, but equally importantly, it has a transformational effect on the young people themselves, who gain new skills and have a life changing experience.

“One of the aims of the Government’s National Citizen Service is to inspire young people to become active in their communities.  City Year could be the perfect next step for committed young people who want to make a difference.  I look forward to seeing City Year grow into a national organisation and empowering tens of thousands of children and young people up and down the country.”

NOTES FOR EDITORS:

In September 2011, City Year started its second academic year working in London schools.  The charity was first established in 1988 in America where it operates in 21 cities across the US and has the backing of President Barack Obama.  In London, City Year currently has 80 full time corps members and works in schools in Hackney, Tower Hamlets, Islington, Brixton, Tottenham and Westminster.

City Year’s major funders include: The Private Equity Foundation, Credit Suisse, the Esmee Fairbairn Foundation, Goldman Sachs Gives, MAN Group Charitable Trust, The Mayor’s Fund for London, SHINE, TowerBrook, v, ARAMARK, National Grid and Barclays Capital.

The Social Action Fund is managed by The Social Investment Business, on behalf of the Cabinet Office and will fund social action projects in England from civil society organisations, public sector bodies and businesses with a track record of delivering social action programmes.  The Social Action Fund is part of a broader programme of support for social action that was announced in the Government’s Giving White Paper.  A list of successful applicants is available at: http://www.thesocialinvestmentbusiness.org/our-funds/social-action-fund/winners/.

“We need to equip young people with the ingredients for a successful transition to adulthood. Access to books and well-resourced schools with the capacity to provide the right literacy interventions is vital. But young people also need to be surrounded by the right role models and peer groups. Darra Singh’s report says some interesting things about emotional resilience and character. At City Year we believe positive role models are critical because they nudge children to behave in the right way and make the right choices. We all need to do more to help young people build resilience, make their own judgements and think for themselves.

“At City Year we are striving to tackle the cycle of deprivation by motivating children to behave well and achieve at school. Partly as a response to the riots, we are now working in schools in Tottenham and Brixton as well as other deprived areas of London.”

City Year’s role models support children inside and outside the classroom to break the all-too-familiar cycle of low aspiration and underachievement.”

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Commenting on the figures, City Year CEO, Sophie Livingstone said:  “The steady increase in youth unemployment will be worrying millions of young people up and down the country.  As a nation, we must redouble our efforts to ensure that we don’t scar this generation with a spiral of poverty, low aspiration and hopelessness.  Young people desperately need more opportunities that build on their school and college education but which provide them with a richer skill set for the world of work.  City Year provides more than 300 hours of leadership coaching, training, and practical advice to help young people get their foot on the career ladder.”

Background:

City Year is London’s leading youth and education charity.  It specialises in recruiting 18-25 year olds to act as mentors and role models to pupils in inner city schools.  As part of the City Year programme, all volunteers benefit from more than 300 hours of leadership and personal development, from CV drafting advice, to public speaking training and advice on how to be successful at interviews.  City Year is focussed on achieving a double impact:  tackling educational disadvantage and youth unemployment.

The 6 a-side match, which was sponsored by the UK’s largest electricity and gas network owner, National Grid, was eventually won 2-1 by City Year London in an incident packed game at the Britannia Leisure Centre in Hackney.

The game was preceded earlier in the day with a visit by the MPs toWhitmorePrimary Schoolin Shoreditch to meet with Hackney school children and City Year’sLondon’s inspirational team of full-time mentors who are currently based in the school.

MPs spent the morning observing classes and meeting with children, before walking the short distance acrossShoreditchParkto the Britannia Leisure Centre to prepare for the game later in the afternoon.

‘City Year London (CYL)’ specialises in education and community action projects aimed at transforming the lives of children and young people in the most deprived communities in London.

CYL is a unique charity that places diverse teams of 18–25 year olds in schools for a year-long programme of tutoring, mentoring and community action.  The goal is to provide positive role models and mentoring support to help children break the all-too-familiar cycle of low aspiration and underachievement.

City Year currently operates in six primary schools and three secondary schools in boroughs including Islington, Hackney, Tower Hamlets and Westminster.

Penny Smith, Head of School, Whitmore Primary School said:

“It was a lovely idea for MPs to visit us on Tuesday and meet with our children and City Year London’s corps members before the football match in the afternoon.

Some of the children were very excited about the football match so I organised for the school council to be cheerleaders for the City Year team and the MPs.  I think it was a nice surprise for the MPs when they saw they had their own support group before the game.”

City Year London Chief Executive, Sophie Livingstone, said:

“It was great for our corps members to get a second bite at the cherry after our heavy defeat to the MPs in last year’s match, which is still very painful!

“I want to say a special thank you to the school children ofWhitmorePrimary Schoolwho brought so much fun and atmosphere to the game. A special thank you must also go to our sponsors National Grid for organising this match for a second year in a row.”

Clive Betts MP, who captain’s the MP team, said: “We had a thoroughly enjoyable and informative morning at the school. Hearing from the School Council and City Year Corps members about the positive impact the programme has on them, the school and the local community was great. We were disappointed to lose the football match especially for our new supporters amongst the Whitmore school children”