Back to School 2022: what have we been up to?

The new academic year has started with a bang here at Inspiring Governance, with a raft of activity to help promote the role of volunteering as a school governor to people across the country, and to support school boards and trusts planning to recruit new members to their governing boards over the next 9 months. Here’s a quick round up of everything that has been going on…

Things kicked off with a new campaign video featuring 5 incredible volunteer governors. Rupinder, Bridget, Richard, Vicci, Karen and Suzy, who shared the real life benefits they have experienced from volunteering as a governor – from improving leadership skills to meeting new and interesting people, it’s really inspiring stuff!

A big thank you goes to all of our employer and professional association partners who shared our Back to School article and campaign video – over 50 articles were sent and shared with thousands of professionals across the country, including accountants, solicitors, civil servants and education professionals. We were delighted to see so many new volunteers sign up to the platform after reading – and hearing about – the benefits of volunteering. It’s great to have you all on board!

We welcomed four new School Governor Champion partners who have committed to highlighting the importance of school governors, what they actually do and how their employees or members can volunteer. Thank you to Burges Salmon, Charterpath, Oxfordshire County Council Doncaster Chamber for joining us and inspiring their staff and members to help make a difference to children and young people in their local areas.

We had a very busy schedule of volunteer information sessions with employers and professional organisations – our Head of Volunteer and Employer Engagement, Suzy Broadhead, has just about got her voice back! – where we spoke to hundreds of attendees about the role of school governor and enjoyed some fascinating insights from current volunteers sharing their experiences with colleagues. A huge thank you to everyone who took part as a panelist in one of our sessions.

We were thrilled to be invited to attend sessions in September with Operation Black Vote and the Civil Service Race Forum to talk about the development opportunities of school governance and the continuing need to diversify thinking and challenge across school governing boards. Inspiring Governance continues to appoint over a third of our governor placements from Black and global majority backgrounds as part of our ongoing Everyone on Board campaign.

To support governing boards and trusts recruiting new governors this year, we relaunched our free to attend monthly Lunch and Learn sessions, run by our Head of School and Trust Support, Richard Ellam, to showcase the Inspiring Governance platform and share tips on how to add a vacancy and approach registered volunteers in the local area. It was fantastic to see so many faces at the session, many thanks to everyone who joined us.

And the results? We have seen so many new volunteers from a variety of professional backgrounds and with lots of different skillsets sign up to the platform from all corners of the country. all inspired to make a difference. If you are looking for new governors, log in to the platform to view the profiles of people in your area – you can do that right here.

Over the last few weeks, it has been an absolute pleasure to meet and speak to so many people interested in finding out more about how to make a positive contribution to the lives of children and young people. We are thrilled that so many of you have joined us, and look forward to helping you find a role 👏