Making Use of a 1% Charitable Causes Scheme – Teach First Futures

As part of its Charitable Causes policy, APR offers all employees 1% of their work time to support “a good cause such as a voluntary organisation or a local community project”. APR Actuarial Associate Adam Smith describes his experience of the initiative.

“Before changing career and joining APR, I worked as a maths teacher at a Welsh secondary school. My former school worked in partnership with Teach First, a charity addressing educational disadvantage throughout England and in Wales. They are perhaps best known for recruiting and training university graduates and placing them in schools that serve more deprived communities. They also run a number of initiatives aimed at eradicating the impact of social inequality in education. This includes the Teach First Futures mentoring programme.

The Futures programme matches sixth-form students with mentors, who volunteer their own time to support mentees throughout their final years of secondary education. This includes advising on next steps after secondary school, supporting students with UCAS applications for universities, and providing support on professional skills like CV writing and interview practice.

Training is provided to mentors by Teach First in the summer before meeting their mentees. In addition, mentor meetings occur often in working hours. I currently mentor two students based in East London.

The APR 1% scheme has provided me with time off from my project to pursue this voluntary endeavour, and I am thankful for their support with my participation in the Teach First Futures scheme.”

To find out more about Teach First and their wider work towards a fair education system for all young people, visit https://www.teachfirst.org.uk/.

Adam Smith

January 2019