Welcome to the first LSL newsletter of 2023. You will find details of various activities we need your Company to help us with as we continue our goal of raising aspirations for disadvantaged young people mainly in London schools.
1. LSL Livery Showcase
The LSL Livery Showcase will be live again in 2023 as part of the London Careers Festival 2023 (LCF). The in-person Livery Showcase will be held at the Guildhall in the week of July 3. Monday July 3 will be for Primary pupils in years 5 and 6, ages 10 and 11. Tuesday July 4 will be for Secondary pupils in years 8 and 9, ages 13 and 14 and making GCSE choices. Please think about having a stall this year as it is great fun. In 2022 we had more Companies for the secondary day than for the primary day but we would like to even this up this year. Top age primary pupils are great fun to talk to and it is the right time to get them thinking about possible careers. They come eager to find out about the various stalls many of which are promoting career areas that are new to them. Middle school pupils are often less enthusiastic but can be drawn out to realise the range of exciting career opportunities available.
2. Livery in Education and Skills booklet
We are planning a revision of the 2022 booklet Livery in Education and Skills this summer. We will be writing to ask you to update your entry in a couple of months’ time. The booklet now covers the whole of life long learning so it would be great if you could expand your entry beyond earlier versions which were inevitably rather schools orientated. This booklet is on our website and made available to schools so that they can understand various educational opportunities offered by different Livery Companies.
3. Opportunity Fund
The current ‘cost of living’ crisis affects many young people. LSL is dealing with London schools that are often in really deprived parts of London with families who are finding the financial side of life really difficult. The purpose of the Opportunity Fund is to help schools to encourage and enable participation in the full curriculum. In 2022 we received various requests such as money for simple calculators to ensure all pupils were equipped with one and more books for the school library to encourage pupils to use library facilities. A donation from a Livery Company can start a longer relationship with a school. We have had discussions with the Livery Charity Chairs Group which is encouraging Livery Companies to support the Livery Food Initiative working with City Harvest. These two requests are complementary as several of the schools LSL works with could be receiving food help from City Harvest often for additional meals which are not provided through the government Free school Meals scheme. Please think about the Opportunity Fund as another way of making a difference to some young people in the current difficult financial time.
4. Volunteering platform ‘Be Their Inspiration’
We continue to be in discussion with our two partner charities: ‘Inspiring the Future’ and ‘Speakers for Schools’ which encourage Livery volunteers to offer career talks and motivational talks to young people in schools. Much of this work is done virtually so can be offered more widely than just the London area.
5. Livery Education Conference
We ran an interesting conference on November 22 2022 at Merchant Taylors’ Hall with representatives from London schools’ staff and Livery Companies. We have a limit of 100 people and round table discussions are a key part of this morning event. The theme this year was ‘Looking at the future job market for young people’ with a key note speech from Andy Haldane, now the CEO of the Royal Society of Arts, and formerly of the Bank of England. The picture suggests that the job market is changing considerably and a career journey will probably be in several different parts. School qualifications will have to change along with this. Invitations to Livery Companies are offered first to LSL member Companies, which we believe is one good reason to think about joining us if you have not done so already. Next year’s event will again be at Merchant Taylors’ Hall on the morning of November 21, 2023.
6. Other opportunities
LSL is always keen to promote particular initiatives that any Livery Company would like to run for schools. We can do this through our website or by a special note to schools if you let us know. Last year we were delighted that a small group of pupils from one Tower Hamlets school were invited to lunch with the Sheriffs and Judges at the Old Bailey. We have been offered two further slots for this year. The opportunity for a small group of older students to attend some form of Livery event is also really welcomed by schools and we can recommend particular schools. Some Companies do this already with their own schools but we hope other Companies will also consider a similar opportunity.
This newsletter gives you a summary of the various activities that LSL is involved in at present. We write to Companies separately about the different items but please contact Lis Goodwin lisgoodwin@btinternet.com or Maureen Marden maureenmarden@btconnect.com, if you would like to know more about any of the items mentioned. The LSL website is www.liveryschoolslink.uk.
Dr Elisabeth Goodwin
Chairman
Livery Schools Link
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