On Thursday 15th June Deloitte Reading generously hosted the first ever Starting Point Showcase celebrating our journey with young people over the last 11+ years.
Partnering organisations, funders, collaborators, trustees, staff (past and present), volunteers, and even the High Sheriff of The Royal County of Berkshire dropped in to engage with our team and their displays communicating our programmes supporting young people. These include Mentoring, School and A&E Navigators, and Starting Point Studio where young people co-work on real-world creative media projects.
Starting Point Project Director Sam Lloyd said:
“It was both inspiring and moving to see different people from across the community gather to celebrate local young people and the impact over the past 11 years”.
We have had such positive feedback from those who attended:
“Thank you again for showing us what you do in such an inspiring way”.
“Thank you so much for inviting me to your impressive event last Thursday . . . Reading is so lucky to have you all there”.
“Thank you for a fantastic afternoon, sharing all the good work, success stories and the team to everyone, we really enjoyed ourselves”.
“The various presentations were excellent but what really came through is the passion of all those involved in their various projects”.
There were many valuable learnings from the event planning through to delivery, however we simply could not have done it without the support of our charity partner Deloitte. Starting Point is working alongside Deloitte on their 5 Million Futures (5MF) programme supporting schools, charities and social impact organisations to break down educational and employment barriers to get more young and under-represented people to where they want to be.
Daniel Barlow, Managing Partner Regional Markets at Deloitte UK, said:
“It was a pleasure to host Starting Point’s first showcase here in our Deloitte Reading office. Through our 5 Million Futures partnerships, we are able to work with local charities to ensure that they have the resources needed to continue delivering vital services in the community. This showcase brought together some of Starting Point’s key stakeholders and supporters and highlighted the fantastic work they’re doing, be it mentoring, their Navigator programme or partnering with local business and local authorities. We look forward to continuing to work with the team and making an impact that matters.”
