PRESS RELEASE

Tutor Trust, Pioneering Manchester charity celebrates 5^th anniversary –Board of Patrons announced, including Sir Howard Bernstein

Summer Reception in Manchester Town Hall hosted by Sir Richard Leese with Nicola Brentnall MVO from the Queen’s Trust

       

The Tutor Trust, a Manchester based educational charity, is celebrating 5 years since Co-Founders Nick Bent and Abigail Shapiro secured the prestigious launch grant from the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) which enabled its creation in Manchester.

Tutor Trust exists to democratise tuition and to even up opportunity within Britain’s grossly unequal education system, through a radical new way of matching great tutors to pupils who need extra academic support.

The Tutor Trust was registered as a charity at the end of September 2011; we delivered our very first tuition session in February 2012, at Whalley Range High School for Girls in Manchester.

Since then, Tutor Trust has:

• Recruited and trained over 1,200 tutors, mostly talented university students
• Provided over 70,000 hours of academic tuition to schools
• Supported over 10,000 pupils (mostly on free school meals or looked after children)
• Partnered with over 250 primary and secondary schools
• Opened an office in Leeds (2015) and worked with over 45 schools already

Five years on, Tutor Trust remains unique in Britain as a professional tuition service provider working exclusively with state schools and run on a strictly not-for-profit basis.

      

We are delighted to announce our Board of Patrons which includes Sir Howard Bernstein, Lord Stuart Polak, Lord Andrew Adonis and Nicola Brentnall MVO.  We asked two of these Patrons to explain why they have supported us in this way:

Sir Howard Bernstein has provided advice and guidance to Tutor Trust since the outset and is a huge advocate of our work and contribution to the city. 

“The Tutor Trust I think is one vehicle that can help reconnect people into the education system. The level of progress the charity has made since its initial idea has been remarkable, and I’m delighted.”

    

Nicola Brentnall MVO is Director of the Queen’s Trust at Buckingham Palace and will be joining us in Manchester to launch our Board.  The Queen’s Trust was established in 1977 in honour of HM The Queen’s Silver Jubilee. The Queen’s Trust provide grants to charities which give young people the opportunity to help others, and in ways that lead to positive life choices and chances and benefit society in the long term. Prior to joining The Queen’s Trust, Nicola worked as a strategy and governance consultant to The Prince of Wales’s Charitable Foundation and for The Prince’s Trust, as Company Secretary.  Nicola Said,

“"A good education plays a vital role in determining life-chances. Thousands of children can achieve so much more if they have the same support with learning that others take for granted. Team Tutor Trust is stepping up to fill the gap and is already making such a difference. This is important and is the reason why, when Nick and Abigail asked me to help, my reply was "deal me in". And more and more people are saying the same - with more tutors coming on board providing more help for children who need it. An equal chance for all children is our joint ambition - nothing is more important than this".

Co-Founders Nick Bent and Abigail Shapiro commented:

“It’s a rare privilege to be able to turn an idea into reality, especially when the motivation is not profit but the desire to give Britain a fairer future.  So we’re full of gratitude to all our Patrons for believing in Tutor Trust and for their ongoing support.

“Our idea has huge national potential and in the next 5 years we want to take Tutor Trust into 5 new cities and also support our tutors into digital skills tuition, modern foreign languages and transition work, as well as boosting our work with looked after children.”

ENDS

 

For professional photographs and further information, please contact Abigail Shapiro, co-founder and Executive Director:

[email protected] or 07768 833703

Please also see www.TheTutorTrust.org

 

Notes to Editors

Tutor Trust Annual Summer Reception hosted by Sir Richard Leese, with guest speaker Nicola Brentnall MVO will take place at Manchester Town Hall on Wednesday 14 June 2017 5:30pm-7:00pm.  If you would like to attend, please call Abigail Shapiro on 07768 833703.

The event is sponsored by PwC and Pannones Corporates whom we thank for their support.