Posted: 15 Sep. 2021 3 min. read

The power of partnership

15 years of Deloitte and Teach First - Making an impact on futures through education

Since our relationship with Teach First began, we’ve donated more than £2 million. Through fundraising, volunteering and pro bono work, we’ve also supported 1,352 teachers and leaders and impacted 414,700 pupils.

To mark our 15-year milestone, we’re sharing stories from people who have been part of our journey. Here, Reuben Moore, the charity’s Executive Director for Programme Development, talks about seeing our impact first-hand.

A great partnership

There’s an old adage – ‘If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go a long way, go together.’

Great partnerships require a shared vision, and for us it’s the success of all young people. It needs clear and concrete activities that, in this case, are mentoring, coaching and support for our programmes. Another ingredient is brilliant communication. In a genuine partnership you can be honest – that’s one thing I love about working with Deloitte.

You also need what I call, ‘the space between’. That’s the space between vision and the day-to-day activities for challenge, innovation and opportunity. And, of course, nothing would happen without great people.

Transforming lives

For us, impact has a ripple effect. It starts with our trainees and leaders, then reaches the many pupils they serve.

Well-led schools can transform young lives by ripping down barriers and driving achievement in disadvantaged communities. Something I’m personally thankful for is Deloitte’s financial support for a specialist set of National Professional Qualifications that will allow school leaders to have an even greater impact.

There are people who might not be teaching without Deloitte’s coaching. It’s a very intense profession and when our trainees are striving to do their best, a coach reminds them that they’re doing a great job.

Also, at the start of the pandemic, Deloitte provided additional funding to make sure a group of career changers could begin their teacher training. Schools needed those teachers but were in a tricky financial position. I cannot tell you how grateful they were for the help – things like that have such a massive effect.

Importance of business

Deloitte brings new perspectives to education challenges, which is really powerful.

We want to give young people the chance to have a successful life and if business and education work together, that can happen. It’s something I’ve become more invested in following the economic scarring of COVID-19. Regional towns will be hit hardest, so we must support young people in these areas to an even greater extent. We need more big businesses to support education across the country, like Deloitte does – and to understand what’s happening outside London.

It boils down to choices and chances – giving young people the choice to go to university, or stay and contribute to their local community, and the chance of a thriving career wherever they are.

We wouldn’t have the scale of transformational impact without supporters like Deloitte. In the past 15 years, we’ve grown massively and schools are flourishing, which is brilliant because our kids deserve the best.

I’d love to see what else we can achieve together, especially in areas beyond the big cities. There’s still work to do and Deloitte are the people we want to do it with.

Find out more

We know this is just the beginning and look forward to growing our partnership over the next 15 years. To read more stories about our relationship with Teach First, visit our Responsible Business blog.

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Key contact

Charlotte Boyle

Charlotte Boyle

Manager

Charlotte has been working at Deloitte since 2011 across various marketing roles. She has been part of the firm’s Responsible Business team since 2016, managing marketing and communications for One Million Futures and the recently launched 5 Million Futures programme in the UK.