Good for ME Good for FE – 95 colleges engaged in one week!

Sam Parrett (London South East Colleges), Jo Maher (Loughborough College) and Stuart Rimmer (East Coast College) are leading the sector’s drive to collectively generate £1m of social value over the next year – and are delighted with the fantastic response so far.    

The campaign hopes to create a sustainable programme of community action across the UK, while helping to support wellbeing of FE staff, given the scientifically proven benefits that volunteering and supporting social causes has on mental health.    

Commenting on the sector’s fantastic response, Dr Sam Parrett CBE, says:   

“The response we have had from the sector to Good for Me Good for FE in just a week since launch has been phenomenal – a quarter of all FE colleges in England! This commitment to generating social value completely reflects the crucial role of colleges as Anchor Institutions.   

“Not only will this initiative help local communities around the country, it will enable colleges to better support the mental health and wellbeing of staff and students. Myself and my colleagues are incredibly excited about progressing activity and I thank every college who has already committed to being involved.   

“We will soon be announcing several charitable partners coming on board, who will help open up volunteering opportunities for our staff – and ensure the campaign can sustain long term impact and action.”   

Stuart Rimmer MBE, CEO at East Coast College, adds: 

“We’d like to thank all our colleagues up and down the UK who have committed to becoming part of this venture. It feels that the time for a focus on volunteering and community contribution really is now.” 

Jo Maher, Principal and CEO at Loughborough College, adds: 

“FE is just brilliant. To see the engagement from Principals, CEOs and their colleges for this campaign, after the volume of work they have got through in the last 18 months, is a real testament to our shared values and passion for social mobility.   

“We have been blown away by the support and we care deeply about make this campaign a fantastic success. Thank you for all of your support.” 

The collaborative effort will build on the huge success of FE Foodbank Friday. This was a national campaign spearheaded by London South East Colleges and supported by over 30 other colleges around the country during the pandemic. Over £47,000 was raised and 20,000 food items were collected for local foodbanks.     

The initiative will focus on:      

• The continuation of Foodbank Friday     
• Encouraging FE staff volunteering activity within and outside college communities     
• Developing corporate and charitable partnerships to sustain long term impact –  which will be announced soon. 

The impact of the campaign will be measured in monetary terms via London South East Colleges’ social value calculator. This system has been developed using the National TOMS framework, independently verified by the Centre for Local Economic Strategies (CLES) and the Social Value Portal.    

Other key performance indicators, including the number of food items and the amount of volunteering hours, are being developed to ensure the full impact can be captured.   

For any college interested in finding out more contact Andrew Cox at London South East Colleges