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Inspire and Linklaters logos for Community Partners Award

Inspire! and the City

Inspire and Linklaters logos for Community Partners AwardToday, 30th September, marks two very exciting events in the City of London: City Giving Day and the Lord Mayor’s Dragon Awards annual celebration dinner.

As an organisation, Inspire! has extremely close ties with City businesses and their employees. Hundreds of City volunteers participate in our programmes every year, bringing their expertise, enthusiasm and real-world experience to projects that help local young people achieve their full potential.

In fact, Inspire! owes its existence to the support of City firms:  UBSLinklaters LLPFreshfields Bruckhaus DeringerJ.P. Morgan and Man Group were among our first funders when we were founded in 2004 as the New Hackney Education Business Partnership.

While things have changed a lot since then, we continue to work closely with our corporate supporters and partners to develop and deliver programmes that effect real change for local young people.

Tonight our Director, Jonny Boux, will be attending the Dragon Awards gala event. Shortlisted in the Community Partners category for our work on Linklaters’ Realising Aspirations programme (formerly Learn for Work), the whole Inspire! team is honoured to be recognised alongside some very prestigious colleagues. While we’re keeping our fingers crossed for a win, we’re thrilled to have the value of our work highlighted by the Awards.

Realising Aspirations, like much of our work, aims to open up opportunities for young people that may otherwise have passed them by. Although Hackney, Camden and Islington are so geographically close to the City, many young local residents feel so distant from it as to consider it almost another planet. City Giving Day is an important recognition of the work City businesses and their staff do to help bridge this gap, changing perceptions of City careers so that local residents can aspire to obtain them.

Reflecting on the importance of the day, Inspire!’s Director, Jonny Boux, said: “The support, energy and expertise volunteers bring to our work every day here at Inspire! is essential. We have a long history of working closely with City companies and their staff to help bring our programmes alive  – as demonstrated by our partnership with Linklaters – and we wouldn’t be here today without their support. We’re delighted City Giving Day is taking place to recognise and celebrate the tremendous work City businesses and their employees do to support their wider communities.”

If you’re interested in volunteering to support our work, find out more here or by emailing info@inspire-ebp.org.uk.