The Social Mobility Pledge in action at Sunderland’s Beacon Of Light
Please note this blog post was published over 12 months ago and so may not include the most up-to-date information, for example where regulation around investing has changed.
At True Potential Investor we are thrilled to have led the way on the Social Mobility Pledge. We were one of the first businesses to sign up to the Pledge, launched by Justine Greening MP and the Harrison Centre for Social Mobility in Spring 2018, and we’re delighted that the Pledge now covers 1.8 million UK employees.
The Harrison Centre for Social Mobility was set up by our founder, David Harrison. It was David’s great honour to attend the Royal opening of the Beacon of Light in Sunderland on Wednesday, 6th March.
The Beacon is home to the Harrison Centre for Social Mobility, part of the World of Work Zone, where students learn about business and enterprise.
–
David welcomed HRH Countess of Wessex to the Harrison Centre where she met some of the young people taking part in the Back on Track and Back in the Game programmes.
More than 6,000 people use the £18m Beacon of Light’s world class facilities each week. The Harrison centre is dedicated to providing equal access to education, enterprise and employability to people regardless of their background. Our partnership with the Beacon will enable and empower young people to move into business.
We were also delighted to be the official sponsor of the Gala Awards Dinner on Wednesday evening, recognising the achievements of local people who have worked with the Beacon over the last 12 months. David presented the Award for Young Enterprise to Macy Hobkirk, who has shown outstanding commitment and effort on the Enterprise Core Programme.
Speaking during the evening, David said: “I’m very impressed by the calibre of people who have won these awards tonight. Social mobility is a real thing but can sometimes be quite hard to measure. On an individual level, the people on stage tonight are all great examples of social mobility in action. They are people who are moving on in their own lives and it’s really great to see.”
The awards dinner was attended by the Countess of Wessex and was followed by an outstanding performance by Oscar-winning lyricist Sir Tim Rice and friends. Sunderland AFC fan Sir Tim wrote the words for many of the nation’s most-loved musicals including Joseph & the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Jesus Christ Superstar, Evita, Aladdin and The Lion King. Guests were treated to a stunning performance featuring songs from these shows and more.
Congratulations to everyone from the Beacon of Light for a fabulous evening and most importantly to all the award winners for their hard work and achievements, which were rightly recognised.
