GOOD FOR ME GOOD FOR FE: Unprecedented sector response

: Created: 25 June 2021

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.

Good For Me Good For FE: Colleges and Organisations backing the campaign

London South East Colleges*

East Coast College*

Loughborough College*

York College

Kingston Maurward College

City College Plymouth

Weymouth College

SMB Group

Weston College

Oldham College

West London College

Derby College Group

Exeter College

Education Training Collective

Wigan-Leigh College

West Thames College

Sparsholt College

The Trafford College Group

IOW College

USP College

Leeds College of Building

Heart of Worcester College

MK College

Greater Brighton Metropolitan College

DN Colleges

Walsall College

Runshaw College

Prestons College

Nelson and Colne College Group

East Sussex College Group

Middlesbrough College

Stanmore college

Midkent College

Nottingham College

Central Bedfordshire College

Dudley College

Glasgow Clyde College

Harlow College

Coventry College

Burton and South Derbyshire College

New College Swindon

Northampton College

Suffolk New College

Eastern College Group

Warrington and Vale Royal College

Boston College

Bournemouth and Poole College

Luminate Education Group

Brockenhurst College

Inspire Education Group

Bath College

Wiltshire College

TEC Partnership (Grimsby Institute)

Burnley College

City of Bristol College

Newham College

St Brendan’s 6thForm College

Basingstoke College of Technology

Myerscough College & University Centre

RNN Group

Waltham Forest College

Shipley College

Darlington College

Hertford Regional College

East Riding College

Colchester Institute

Capital City College Group

Newcastle and Stafford Colleges Group

Fareham College

North Warwickshire and South Leicestershire College

Southport College

City College Southampton

Newbury College

City College of Liverpool

Lincoln College Group

Croydon and Coulsdon College

New College Durham

The Sheffield College

Havant and South Downs College

Gateshead College

South Essex College

Hull College Group

Herefordshire, Ludlow and North Shropshire College

Truro and Penwith College

Grantham College

Uxbridge College & Harrow College

Cheshire College

Hopwood College

Craven College

Halesown College

Blackburn College

St Helens College

The Manchester College

Kirklees College

Wakefield College

Barnsley College

Blackpool and the Fylde College

Lancaster and Morecambe College

Chichester College Group

Abingdon and Witney College

North Herefordshire College

Hugh Baird College

Bradford College

For any college interested in finding out more visit our website or contact Andrew Cox at London South East Colleges: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.