On the 12^th June, The Tutor Trust hosted its Annual Summer Reception, with guest speaker Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester.  The event, held at Manchester Museum, celebrated the work of Tutor Trust over the past twelve months and was sponsored by PwC and Pannone Corporate.

The evening was a huge success with over 150 people in attendance, including Heads, teachers, Greater Manchester Mayors, corporate partners, Tutor Trust alumni and individuals from organisations such as the University of Manchester, GM Higher, Teach First, City Year UK, Reach Out, Governors for Schools and many more, all gathered to celebrate the huge growth in the work of Tutor Trust.

The stunning Living Worlds Gallery truly came alive as tutors, teachers, trustees, funders and partner organisations chatted over drinks, with the musical accompaniment provided by our own tutor and pianist, Ben Churchill.

With a packed room, Co-Founder Abigail Shapiro welcomed our guests to the evening, saying: “We are thrilled to be here celebrating with you and delighted that Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester, is showing his support for all our work in schools across Greater Manchester by joining us here tonight.”

Abigail celebrated the achievements of the past 12 months, including record tuition hours across Greater Manchester and Leeds, a pilot in Liverpool, a formal partnership with the University of Manchester on evaluation, a focus on impact measurement through our expanded Quality Management team, a partnership with GM Higher and the delivery of Year 6 tuition as part of our transition pilot in Salford.  She also highlighted our success over the past six years:

• Tutor Trust registered as a charity in 2011.  Based in Manchester, we have also served Leeds since 2015 and have delivered over 90,000 hours of tuition in this period.  Plus, we have recruited and trained over 1,250 tutors and paid them over £1 million.
• We have won several awards including ‘Best New Charity in Britain’ at the Charity Times Awards in 2016 and the ‘Best Partnership’ prize at the Spirit of Manchester Awards.  In June 2017, Tutor Trust won the top ‘Spirit of Community’ award from Yorkshire Bank, beating 300 other entries. 
• Our Patrons are Lord Andrew Adonis, Nicola Brentnall MVO (Director of The Queen’s Trust), Sir Howard Bernstein and Lord Stuart Polak.

Abigail then welcomed to the stage a friend and long-term partner of Tutor Trust, Patsy Kane, Executive Principal of Education and Leadership Trust, whose schools include Whalley Range High School, Levenshulme High and The East Manchester Academy.  Patsy has used Tutor Trust tutors every year since our launch in 2012.  Our very first tuition session was in Whalley Range High School, in February 2012, when Patsy was Headteacher.  Patsy is extremely supportive of Tutor Trust and all the benefits, both academic and inspiring that tutors provide the young people they work with.  Patsy said:

“I would like to thank all the students who have found that commitment that they want to make to the community here in Greater Manchester, those student tutors who are making such an immediate and demonstrable difference to students in our schools. Together, collectively, we can build a really strong group of young citizens who are able to take support when they need it but give back leadership and support to other people in turn when they are going through their education.”

It was then over to Tutor Trust Chief Executive and Co-Founder, Nick Bent, who had the honour of introducing Andy Burnham to the stage.  Having known Andy for a long time, Nick delighted in telling guests of the important partnership they have and the amount of support Tutor Trust has from the Mayor and his team.

“Andy Burnham is committed to helping all young people across Greater Manchester achieve their potential so that they leave school ready to enter the workplace and secure the best outcomes for themselves and Greater Manchester as a city region. I am delighted that he has shown his dedication and commitment to helping all young people through his support of our work and his commitment to helping us expand our reach across the whole of Greater Manchester.”

The assembled guests were delighted when Andy Burnham then explained his vision for education across Greater Manchester, saying:

“I passionately support the Tutor Trust and wanted to be here tonight to say it fits completely with everything we are trying to achieve through devolution in Greater Manchester. It's initiatives like this that I think we need to support. We have to be a city region that really gives that helping hand to every single young person. Abigail and Nick, you've created something truly of our times, an organisation that can help give that helping hand to young people who need it most.”

Abigail and Nick closed the formal part of the evening by thanking all our guests and supporters.  A special thank you was given to the University of Manchester, who had generously allowed us to use Manchester Museum, which provided a perfect backdrop for this incredible evening.  And of course, to the very many teachers who took time out at this very busy time of year to join us.  Guests were encouraged to chat to our tutors to hear first-hand of the inspirational work they do every day in the 130 schools we support.

And so, another Summer Reception drew to a close. We would like to thank everyone who came to support us, be it the teachers who joined us at the end of their long days; our trustees and trainers who came to meet with our partners; and of course, Greater Manchester Mayor, Andy Burnham, who praised us so generously.  We hope to see you all again next year!