Who, What, When, Where, Why: What is name-blind recruitment and how can it help ReachOut young people?

Earlier in the autumn, the Prime Minister announced that leading UK universities and companies must remove candidates’ names from their application forms in order to tackle the danger of “unconscious bias” against students from black and minority ethnic (BAME) backgrounds.

This announcement came amid fears that BAME students are unfairly losing out to their white peers on university places and graduate jobs owing simply to their race.

In 2012, Jorden Berkeley, a black 22-year-old graduate from London who had spent four months applying for jobs with no success, said that a careers adviser suggested she should “whiten” her CV by using her middle name – Elizabeth – instead. After making this simple yet degrading change, Jorden started to get call backs for most, if not all, of the jobs for which she applied.

This shocking anecdote is underpinned by an alarming study into the Russell Group of leading UK universities conducted by Vikki Boliver, Senior Lecturer in Sociology at Durham University. Boliver discovered that, between 2010-2012, 55% of white applicants received places at this prestigious group of universities, compared with just 36% of ethnic minority applicants.

More worryingly, separate analysis has shown that young people in the UK who currently attend private secondary schools are twenty two times more likely to get accepted into top universities, compared to those on free school meals.

Further research conducted in the US suggests that unconscious bias extends beyond just university applications. The National Bureau of Economic Research recently released a paper which found that ‘job applicants with white names needed to send about 10 resumes to get one call back; those with African-American names needed to send around 15 resumes to get one call back.’

When we bring gender into the equation, the inequality deepens yet again. According to the All Party Parliamentary Group chaired by Tottenham MP David Lammy, when compared to their male BAME counterparts, BAME women face an even greater challenge to enter the labour market. In a recent report, the APPG identified that unemployment rates among ethnic minority women have remained consistently higher than for white women since the 1980s. In 2011, the unemployment rate for BAME women was 14.3%, while the unemployment rate for white women was less than half of this at 6.8%!

In the light of such findings, Prime Minister David Cameron has announced that UCAS, the country’s university admissions service, will carry out name-blind applications from 2017. Following suit, some of the country’s largest graduate and apprentice-level employers – including the BBC, the NHS, local government, KPMG, HSBC, Deloitte and Virgin Money – will also begin using name-blind recruitment in order to tackle any unconscious bias towards candidates from black and minority ethnic backgrounds.

In the 2015-16 academic year, 90% of the 794 disadvantaged young people we are supporting through weekly, one-to-one mentoring come from BAME backgrounds. While our mentors are already supporting these youngsters to develop their character in order to improve their academic attainment and future life chances, we are very pleased to see top universities and employers implementing name-blind recruitment practices.

Our partner in the Fair Education Alliance, Teach First, has been using name-blind applications for six years now and is a shining example of best practice on this front. Since putting name-blind applications into use, the calibre of applicants looking to join their Leadership Development Programme has remained strong while the diversity of their cohort has increased. 42% of their intake are the first in their family to go to university, 27% were on free school meals when at school and 15% are BAME, compared to just 7% of the whole teaching workforce.

While we still have a very long way to go in our fight against educational inequality in the UK, name-blind applications demonstrate the importance of organisations working together to ensure that all young people can access opportunities that allow them to develop and grow, regardless of their background. These changes in recruitment practice will only make it easier for BAME young people like those whom ReachOut supports to make a successful transition into further education and the world of work. We welcome them. 

Volunteer Spotlight: Jane Sidebottom

Jane is a senior Civil Servant in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. She volunteers as a mentor on a ReachOut Academy project in east London.

“I’ve loved being involved with Reachout over the last ten years. It’s grown from a new organisation to an established part of the community, with more and more participants each year. I’ve been a regular mentor with them for three years and what keeps me coming back are three things.

First and foremost, it’s a lot of fun. It is so energising at the end of a busy day to arrive in a classroom full of people who have all had a very different day from you and to spend an hour with them. You never know what that is going to involve – with those I mentor I’ve discussed everything from the Maths and English tasks set by the session leader, to choosing GCSEs, A levels and career paths, the causes of World War One, irregular French verbs and the latest school gossip. I’m certainly not an expert in all those things, but as a mentor I don’t necessarily need to be – my job is to listen and ask questions to help others stretch themselves and reach their potential, in and outside school.

Second, I think it’s important for all of us to have as much contact with as diverse a group of people as possible. In the hour a week I spend with a group of teenagers and their mentors I usually get a different perspective than from my other friends or colleagues. That shapes my view of the world and has had an impact on the way I think about a lot of things – from politics to who should go out with who on Made In Chelsea. And I hope that works the other way around too. I hope that through their contact with me, the kids I mentor can see that the path I’ve taken and career I’ve chosen are also open to them.

Third, it’s easy. Finding an hour a week is something most people can manage, and that’s all Reachout asks of you. You can easily see what a difference that makes, whether in the space of the hour you spend with the person you mentor, or over the months as the stories come through of improved performance and behaviour at school or other achievements. That contributes to a strong feeling of community and I’m really proud to be part of that.”

Edward Timpson MP visits ReachOut

On Thursday 5^th November, Edward Timpson MP dropped into the Year 7 and 8 ReachOut Academy at Our Lady’s in Higher Blackley, Manchester.

During his visit, Edward chatted with the mentees and mentors during the one to one mentoring session, finding out what ReachOut means to them.  Former mentee, now Senior Mentor Keiarnya Grant-Blissett, chatted with Edward about her journey through ReachOut and the support she had received from her Mentor. She spoke about how ReachOut helped her to embark on a degree in Childcare Studies and the skills she has been learning from her time as a mentor.

In the group activity, Edward helped the mentees and mentors as they worked together on the Balloon Couch Challenge. This great relationship building activity provides the perfect environment for our mentees and mentors to get to know each other while having fun: planning, building and then testing the strength of their couches by sitting on them for 30 seconds.

On his experience at ReachOut, he had this to say, "I was really pleased to visit Our Lady's High School for the ReachOut project, and was delighted to see first hand all of the hard work that has gone into raising the students' aspirations and building character. I look forward to hearing more about ReachOut's work in the future and wish them all the best with the projects planned."

We would like to take this opportunity to thank Edward Timpson for taking the time to visit our project and to chat with our mentees and mentors, we hope to see you again soon.

Heidi

Manchester

Barclays Volunteers Pass On Their Skills

During October, Barclays hosted a number of workshops with ReachOut as part of ‘Make a Difference Month’, an internal global campaign encouraging Barclays staff from all over the world to volunteer their time and skills to help bring about positive change.

On one of those workshops, twenty students from Bishop Challoner school jumped on the DLR to Canary Wharf for a workshop on public speaking. After a quick game of Pictionary to break the ice, the young people were given the challenge to write a short speech on ‘The two people I would most like to meet and why’. Breaking off into small groups, the students wrote and delivered their speeches all receiving individual tips and feedback from the Barclays staff. Speech topics ranged from Simon Cowell to Nelson Mandela, but what they all had in common was how well they were delivered and the great amount of effort the young people put in. The workshop ended in over half of the young people delivering their speeches to a room of over 30 people – a great achievement!

Later in the month, 25 students from Heartlands High School took part in a challenge to plan and budget their own summer festival with the winning team securing a £25,000 loan from Barclays. The group were broken off into 4 teams: ‘The Best’; ‘The Wizards of Oz’; ‘3 steps Ahead’ and ‘Money Makers’. After meticulously planning the festivals and double checking their budget sheets, the teams presented their pitches to a panel of judges including Cathy Abell from the Barclays Citizenship and Reputation team. All of the pitches were brilliant and many of the students discovered hidden talents in marketing and finance.

Cathy Abell commented, “Our volunteers have really enjoyed getting involved in these sessions and seeing first-hand the great work that ReachOut does. We’re looking forward to supporting more of these sessions going forward”.

We would like to say a huge thank you to the 30 + volunteers from Barclays who gave up their time during the month to support the ReachOut students – we hope they enjoyed the experience as much as our young people did! We would also like to thank the students from the following schools who were involved in the four workshops hosted over the month: Bishop Challoner Catholic Collegiate School; Haggerston School, Heartlands High School and The Petchey Academy.   

From Mentee To Mentor: Keiarnya Grant-Blissett Volunteer Spotlight

Why did you begin volunteering with ReachOut?

I started off as a mentee at ReachOut when I was 14. I was on the ReachOut Academy project. I really enjoyed being part of ReachOut and they gave me the opportunity to be a Junior Mentor during their summer project.

In being a Junior Mentor, I was not only able to get a feel for being a mentor/ role model to younger children, but it also gave me experience of being responsible and professional. I continued being a Junior Mentor on a number of different projects until I was experienced enough to apply to be a Senior Mentor. The idea appealed to me as I wanted to give back to the world, and to help someone as someone helped me. 

What effect do you think you had on the young people while volunteering with ReachOut?

What was really important when I was mentored myself was that I had the same mentor each week, so I was really excited about having my own mentee. The regular contact really enabled me to build a strong bond with the young person. I tried to always make sure my mentee knew I was interested in how they were doing, and that I was always there to talk to them about their worries, their failures, and their successes. In our sessions we worked on short and long term goals such as trying to make sure all homework is completed on time (short term) or getting good enough grades to get into university (long term). 

I think being mentored helped my mentee to develop personally, to think about what was important to them, and helped them to develop strategies to reach their goals.

How do you feel you developed while volunteering with ReachOut and what skills did you gain?

By volunteering with ReachOut I have been given the opportunity to gain and develop skills. I definitely feel like I can communicate with people from all walks of life, whether they be young people or potential employers.  Working as a Senior Mentor with ReachOut allowed me to develop my leadership skills, and has encouraged me to take on more responsibility. 

More than anything, I feel like volunteering has increased my confidence.

Has Volunteering changed your views or perspective on anything?

By volunteering with Reachout, I have been given an insight into issues young people face in the community. It has allowed me to realise that without Reachout, I wouldn’t have gotten to where I am now, which makes me want to volunteer more to allow others to enjoy the benefits that I have. To be able to give young people that extra support and guidance they need to assist them in their life is so important. Overall I feel volunteering has not only allowed me to help young people in the community but has helped me to develop as a person and I am truly thankful for being given the opportunity.

ReachOut Turns Red, White and Blue for Ambassador Visit

On Monday 26 October, an audience of ReachOut young people were treated to a very special visit by the US Ambassador to the UK, Matthew Barzun.

Generously hosted by Bloomberg at their brilliant UK Head Office in Finsbury Square, Ambassador Barzun spoke with our young people about his experiences of working in diplomacy. There was also a chance for the young people to talk about what they thought were some of the best and worst things about the USA in 2015.

Mr Barzun opened the event by emphasising the importance of ‘listening’, sharing the remarkable story of when his boss, President Barack Obama, advised him on the first day of his new job that he would only succeed as an Ambassador if he took the time to listen to people.

Our young people were hooked on Ambassador Barzun from the start and, following this, he moved the event onto a wider discussion about their perceptions of the United States. Mr Barzun asked our young people a series of multiple choice questions about the USA which they could answer using handheld clickers. Their answers were then represented in real time as percentages on TV screens around the auditorium – just like an Ask the Audience lifeline on Who Wants to be a Millionaire!

The results from these questions prompted some great conversations and our young people really showed how clued up they are on current affairs by quizzing Ambassador Barzun at length on the likes of the American judicial system, gun crime, police brutality, racism and the death penalty.

Engaging and enthusiastic throughout, Mr Barzun wrapped up the event by emphasising to our young people that they are the future leaders of the UK, encouraging them to take advantage of every possible opportunity to work together with the USA to help change the world for the better. It’s safe to say that our young people (as well as their teachers and ReachOut staff!) left the event feeling very inspired!

Thank you again to both Ambassador Barzun and Bloomberg for what was a brilliant event. 

Get out of the student suburbs and explore!

ReachOut operates in two fantastic cities (London and Manchester)… we’ve highlighted a number of interesting things to see/do in each city that you may not come across if you stick to the university circuit – make sure you make the most of your city!

London:

You could do an undergraduate degree, a Masters and a Doctorate here and barely have time to scratch the surface of what London has to offer!

Here’s a quick ReachOut guide to the essential London:

Dalston/Shoreditch/Hoxton – London’s Hipster capital… Put aside any preconceived ideas you may hold about hipsters and make sure you check these areas out. There’s a lot of interesting stuff to see/do/eat/drink around here. Some of our favourites are: Red Dog Saloon, The Owl and The Pussycat, The Box Park, Blues Kitchen, Dishoom, Red Gallery and White Lyan (don’t forget to have a look at the street art around Shoreditch).

Theatre/Live Music – You’re in the theatre capital of the world (sorry Broadway), so make sure you experience some of the amazing live venues London has to offer. Have a look at the National Theatre for top quality theatre at *relatively* affordable prices. Alternatively, many of London’s smaller venues offer incredible live shows for great value – see: The Soho Theatre, Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club, The Royal Festival Hall, Arcola Theatre and Camden Roundhouse.

Other top tips - Take some time to wander around London – you’re sure to stumble across something worth seeing/doing. You should definitely have a look at: London’s outdoor markets - Portobello Market, Borough Market and Brixton market, Hampstead Heath (maybe even have a swim in the ponds), Stroll along the South Bank (there’s loads to see/do, especially during the summer), Dalston Roof Park, Frank’s Café (Peckham) and Electric Cinema.

Keep up to date with ReachOut London’s events and socials through social media:

Click here to join the official ReachOut FB page

Click here to join the Queen Mary University ReachOut Society FB page

Manchester:

Manchester has its own individual culture, nightlife and social scene. With the largest student population in Europe it stands to reason that there’s an enormous amount for you to do!  

Here are our top tips for Manchester:

Food –There are loads of great places to eat around Manchester. Check out: 'Luck, Lust, Liquor and Burn', This and That, Almost Famous, Australasia (pictured), Red’s BBQ and Home Sweet Home. Walk up and down the not quite mile long stretch of Oxford Road that makes up “The Curry Mile” and choose a place that takes your fancy… Mughli is a ReachOut favourite.

Drink/Nightlife – Does Manchester have the best nightlife in the UK? We can’t say for sure… but we certainly think so – make sure you don’t confine yourself to the standard student places. Manchester has got everything from great bars to electro-house club nights and live music venues. Have a look at: Liar’s Club, Mint Lounge, Soup Kitchen, A Place Called Common, Gorilla and Dog Bowl (pictured).

Other recommendations – Don’t miss out on visiting Home, a brand new contemporary arts space with two theatres offering an ever-changing collection of art house, foreign and non-Hollywood British movies (as well as the odd Blockbuster). It also has gallery space that is home to the very best in contemporary art. 

For other top tips, see: Music performances at the RNCM, plays at the Royal Exchange Theatre, all the things weird and wonderful purveyed at Affleck's Palace, the Nexus Art Café, and the newly renovated John Ryland Library (Deansgate).

Keep up to date with ReachOut Manchester’s events and socials through social media:

Clickhere to join the official ReachOut FB page

Clickhere to Join the Manchester University ReachOut Society FB page 

Roly Hunter - London

Jo Tripney - Manchester

Macquarie Get Sporty For ReachOut

A huge thank you to the staff at our strategic corporate partner, Macquarie, who last week organised two impressive fundraising events in support of ReachOut. These events were arranged as a part of Macquarie Foundation Week, an annual initiative which encourages staff globally to organise and participate in a range of community events for various charities.

Our relationship with Macquarie has grown and developed over the last 7 years. Beginning with a few employees volunteering weekly as mentors on our projects in Hackney, our relationship has evolved into a truly strategic partnership that now sees the bank providing us with annual grants, hosting ReachOut events and employability workshops for our young people and encouraging its staff to volunteer regularly with us.

During Macquarie Foundation Week, staff organised an intra-company football tournament where teams of employees from across the bank could get competitive for a good cause, battling it out on the football pitch to win the coveted ReachOut Champions trophy. With 12 teams involved, there was some decent footie on show as well as some rather cheesy team names – congratulations to the Credit Crunchers who took home the trophy!

Following on from the football tournament, staff then organised a rowathon in Macquarie’s reception. Over the course of a day, 80 people took turns to see how fast they could row 1,000m. Massive congratulations to our winners – Louis-Simon Huber and Valerie Osband – who sprint rowed the target distance in 3.03mins and 3.38mins, respectively.

With very generous matched funding from the Macquarie Group Foundation, employees raised over £8,000 for ReachOut across the two events – a brilliant achievement!

Thanks again and well done to all involved.  

Comfort Zones and the Growth Mindset: Two lessons in achieving your potential

Over the past couple of years I’ve learned two lessons that have dramatically changed my way of thinking and increased my personal confidence.

Lesson 1: Get out of your comfort zone.

I first came across the phrase “comfort zone = dead zone” on a stranger’s t-shirt whilst walking down the street. The t-shirt was black, the writing was white, bold and in your face. I felt affronted. “What’s wrong with my comfort zone?” I thought. “It’s comfortable!”

But that image kept nagging me and eventually I realised that this stranger’s t-shirt was right. Sure it’s comfortable in the comfort zone, but whilst passing time in your comfort zone you are not discovering new things, not overcoming new challenges, not learning new skills, and most importantly, not realising your potential!

So if we want ourselves, and the young people we work with at ReachOut, to achieve our potential, then lesson number one has to be: get out of your comfort zone, as often as possible.

Easier said than done. What if I try something new and fail? What if I go for a job interview and am rejected? What if I write a blog and no-one reads it? (Yes, I am outside my comfort zone right now, and it’s scary!) There are so many what ifs in my head, so many opportunities for failure, and that nagging fear that I might just discover things that I am not good at, proving that I have already reached my potential. These thoughts make me want to shrink back into my comfy comfort zone. This is why lesson 2 is so important.

Lesson 2: Exercise a growth mindset.

I then discovered the work of Carol Dweck and her concept of growth mindset. It was actually a teacher who introduced it to me, explaining that children with a growth mindset believe that intelligence can be developed. These children focus on learning, rather than looking smart, they see effort as the key to success, and they thrive in the face of a challenge. On the flip side, children with a fixed mindset believe that people are born good or bad at stuff and can’t do much to change that. These children focus on looking smart rather than learning, they see effort as a sign of low ability (if you have to try, then you must not be good at it) and they wilt in the face of a challenge. Unsurprisingly, children with a growth mindset do better in school.

According to Dweck there are three attributes to growth mindset:

• Effort (which we at ReachOut would link to staying power and self-control) – the harder we try, the more we achieve.
• Using good strategies – find out what works, and do it again. If it ain’t broke don’t fix it.
• Proactive help seeking – it’s okay to ask others for help.

I recently moved to a new role at ReachOut, recruiting new staff, managing our database, preparing cash flows, and several other random things which I had never done before coming under the heading of “operations”. Most of the time I feel confident and positive about my work, but I am definitely out of my comfort zone and if it wasn’t for the discovery of growth mindset, I would have crumpled under the strain of feeling out of my depth and making many mistakes.

Instead, when faced with a new challenge rather than putting it off I make time to deal with it (effort), if I don’t know about something I “google it” (using good strategies) and when I hit a brick wall I consult a colleague, friend or one or our amazing Board of Advisers (proactive help seeking). In the end I get the job done and each time I succeed I feel more confident that I can handle being out of my comfort zone and achieve more. Something I couldn’t say two years ago.

My personal experience with growth mindset has convinced me that we should be teaching our young people that it is good when we find something hard and have to put effort in, pointing out what methods help them to overcome challenges, and encouraging them to ask for support when they need it. Therefore lesson number two is: exercise and promote a growth mindset. As mentors, if we can help our mentees with the three growth mindset attributes, we are well on the way to helping them be the best they can be.

Fran Ellis
London

If you'd like to know more about growth mindset, check out this 45 minute course for teachers. https://www.mindsetkit.org/growth-mindset 

Volunteer Spotlight: Will Wright

Will Wright studied Mathematics at University of Manchester and volunteered as a mentor during his third year. Here’s what he has to say about his time with ReachOut:

How did you hear about ReachOut?

I heard about ReachOut through friends who had just started the program.

What made you want to volunteer with ReachOut?

My friends told me about ReachOut and it seemed like a great opportunity to positively impact young people and help them using my experiences of high school. As a student I felt I had a lot of spare time and I wanted to use this to do something constructive. Also, I thought it would help me build my own skills in leadership, communication and team working skills which would in turn help me get a job after graduating.

What did you usually do on a ReachOut project?

During the first hour we would help the kids with school work in general as well as participating in group activities. As most of them were in their final year we would also help them with applying to college and revising for tests. As a mathematics student I would normally work with them on maths and due to the 1 on 1 nature, it was a really useful way to explain to them concepts they were struggling with. After this we would either play football or cards with the kids. This was a great way to get to know the kids better, have a laugh and build a relationship with them.

Can you tell me a little bit about a young person you worked with.

I worked with Ben, who although sometimes could be quite hard work, was extremely funny and by the end of the project we got on very well. He was very smart but easily distracted and the main challenge was to keep him concentrated on his own work and not someone else’s.

How did you help him?

Like most teenagers he did not enjoy maths but had a natural understanding of it. I think working on a 1 to 1 level was a really useful way to explain the more complicated parts and deal with anything he did not understand. When given a leadership role in a group he really excelled and this opportunity made him appreciate the importance of working as a member of a team.

What’s the best thing about volunteering with ReachOut?

Working with both the children and the volunteers was a lot of fun and always a laugh. It was a really nice change from the usual student life and a great opportunity to interact with non-students.

How did you fit ReachOut in around your university work?

ReachOut was very easy to fit around university work as it was at the same time each week and it helped me learn to manage my time as I had to also revise and work my part time job at a bar.

What do you do now?

I am a statistical programmer for a CRO (Contract Research Organisation).

Did mentoring with ReachOut help you pursue the job/career you have at the moment?

Definitely, it gave me a great way to prove my skills in leadership as well as providing great anecdotes for my interview. It showed how I could manage time and was willing to take my own time to help others.

Do you have a message for university students thinking about volunteering with ReachOut?

It was a unique experience and you will never have a boring moment there. It provides an opportunity to give something back as well as develop your own personal skills. It’s a great way to show employers that you are a well-rounded individual who can adapt to different situations and deal with all kinds people from all walks of life with a positive manner.

Young people raise £1000 for Meningitis Now

Each year our Junior Mentors devise their own group project as part of our ACE programme (Action, Character, Excellence). It can be anything, from fashion shows to comedy videos to restaurant evenings. Last year, the ReachOut boys from Bishop Challoner School in east London decided they wanted their project to benefit others, and devised various fundraising events to raise money for Menigitis Now, inspired by one of their teachers. Now they want to inspire others...

ReachOut Junior Mentors Yr. 11 Group Project

Hi! My name is Paul and I’m from Bishop Challoner School in East London.    

I remember finishing ReachOut in Yr. 10 on a high note, having just pulled off a comedy news report for our final project. We started Yr. 11 with new members and little ideas about our plans for this year’s project. But we all had grown significantly. 

Shaun and his short bread fingers. (And me on the right)

ReachOut, with the support of our mentors, had shined light on our true potential and raised our confidence to go beyond our limits. For Yr. 11, we decided we wanted to show what ReachOut had brought out of us with a massive project of raising money for a charity- something that for many of us, was out of our comfort zone. Inspired by the work of one of our teachers, we chose Meningitis Now, a fantastic charity doing fantastic work! 

Our main strength was unity and the best way to show that was working together to bake. We made a variety of goods from shortbread and brownies, to cakes and cookies- all flying off the stalls!

Zaahir baking chocolate crispies.

It was tough and tiring. Countless hours were spent, week in, week out, baking and selling at our mentors' workplaces. But there was something strange about it. Every week we baked more, we set our goals higher and we branched out into more fundraising ideas. It never felt like work for a single moment! 

Presenting the cheque to our teacher - I know we don't look that happy, but it was a great moment.

We cannot thank enough all the people who helped us on our journey. Every little bit of support given meant the world. I hope our efforts have inspired others to do more to help others. Together, over the five month project, with the help of everyone’s efforts, Yr. 11 Bishop Challoner Boys ReachOut Junior Mentors raised £1000 for Meningitis Now!     

By Paul Nguyen

The goods.

More baking...

The delicious brownies.

In the midst of the cake frenzy.

Me and Michael in sales mode.

Too much choice!

Another day, another cake sale.

A happy customer!

The best seller - carrot cake!

Relaxing on the roof of Media Ocean with a mentor after a successful bake sale.

Satisfied customers, proud mentors, happy Junior Mentors!