Patrons

Nicola Brentnall is Director of The Queen’s Trust, which funds registered charities that ‘help young people to help others’. The Queen’s Trust was established in 1977 in honour of HM The Queen’s Silver Jubilee. Prior to joining The Queen’s Trust, she worked as a strategy and governance consultant to The Prince of Wales Charitable Foundation and for the Prince’s Trust, as Company Secretary. 

When we asked Nicola why she was supporting Tutor Trust she 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. The 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.”

Lord Polak is a former youth worker and served as an officer of the Board of Deputies of British Jews in the 1980s. He joined the Conservative Friends of Israel in 1989 and served as its Director for twenty-six years, until August 2015 when he was made a life peer. Lord Polak recently spent time in The Tutor Trust office with members of staff and said: “I think The Tutor Trust as a concept is brilliant. It’s a win-win for everyone – from schools and parents, to university students and pupils. I am so pleased to support a charity which has such a positive impact on children’s educational progress. The Tutor Trust works to bolster and augment the work that schools already do, and that’s fantastic.” 

Alongside his political career, where he was a Cabinet Minister and Head of Policy in Number Ten, Lord Adonis has worked as an academic at Oxford University, and as a journalist at both the Financial Times and The Observer. He was made a life peer in 2005, and is currently chairman of the National Infrastructure Commission.  

Lord Adonis has worked for several think tanks and is a board member of Policy Network, as well as trustee of our partner charity TeachFirst and visiting professor at King’s College London. Lord Adonis has spoken fondly of us over many years, saying: “One of the most alarming statistics in education today is that pupils on free school meals are half as likely to get 5 good GCSEs as the national average. Tutor Trust is one of the most important and exciting developments in English education. It takes a brilliantly simple idea that pupils who are in danger of falling behind in English, Maths or Science should be able to get individual or small group tuition in exactly the same way as middle class parents have taken for granted for generations."

Lucy was elected Labour MP for Manchester Central in November 2012 and has held the seat at the past two elections, most recently winning in 2017 with a majority of over 31,000 votes.  During her parliamentary career, Lucy has been Shadow Secretary of State for Education, Shadow Minister for the Cabinet Office and Shadow Minister of Education, whilst also serving on the Transport and Education Select Committees.

Lucy was announced as one of our Patrons at our 2019 Summer Reception and said she was "absolutely thrilled to become a patron of Tutor Trust because we all know of the support that we can give to our own children how much that extra one-to-one support...really helps a child.  The team took a gem of an idea and have made it into this remarkable project."