By Sarah Dale
27 June 2024
The PoW campaign aims to raise aspirations of young people in the Tees Valley and beyond
A campaign to empower young people in the North-east to aim higher has hit its initial target of signing up 100 pupil ambassadors.
Power of Women (PoW) is a community interest company (CIC) established following the publication of a report* which claimed that Middlesbrough was the “worst place for a girl to grow up”.
The brainchild of the late Professor Jane Turner MBE, who wanted to reverse the predicted outcomes of girls and young women, the campaign works with girls and boys in schools to show all young people how to raise their aspirations and ambition.
Based on the idea that ‘You can’t be what you can’t see’, PoW’s sponsors and ambassadors within the business community work with children and young people in schools as mentors and role models.
The pupil ambassador programme was started in September 2021 with five schools in Teesside. It now works in 24 schools in Middlesbrough, Stockton, Redcar, Hartlepool, Darlington, Aycliffe and Sunderland, and has inspired hundreds of children and young people to apply to become an ambassador.
With support from the business community, who provide financial support and give up their time to interview and appoint pupil ambassadors, the campaign, spearheaded by Claire Preston, continues to grow.
Campaign manager Sophie McKenna says: “This year has been our biggest yet, working in 24 schools and 100 ambassadors – and we only want to get bigger! But we can’t do it without the support of the local business community.
“PoW is all about building a community, bringing together education and business and a host of organisations who all believe in the power of raising ambition and aspiration in the future generation.”
The primary schools supported by the PoW pupil ambassador programme are: Thorntree Academy, Middlesbrough; New Silksworth Academy, Sunderland; Dormanstown Primary Academy, Redcar; Brambles Primary Academy, Middlesbrough; Wilton Primary Academy, Wilton; Eldon Grove Academy, Hartlepool; Pennyman Primary Academy, Middlesbrough; St Helen’s Primary School, Hartlepool; St Bede’s Catholic Academy, Stockton; Ayresome Primary School, Middlesbrough; St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School, Stockton; Westview Primary School, Hartlepool; St Gabriels Catholic Primary School, Middlesbrough; Heathfield Primary School, Darlington; South Bank Primary School, Middlesbrough; Discovery Special Academy, Middlesbrough; Tilery Primary School, Stockton; Cleves Cross Primary School, Ferryhill; Whinney Banks Primary School, Middlesbrough; Aycliffe Village Primary School, Aycliffe; Riverdale Primary School, Redcar; Red Hall Primary School, Darlington; Coatham Primary School, Redcar; North Shore Academy, Stockton.
The ambassador programme is also being rolled out to secondary schools with a pilot scheme starting at North Shore Academy in Stockton. The school now has eight ambassadors in Year 7.
There are plans to develop the programme further so that more children in the schools have access to the scheme.
The pupil ambassadors have enjoyed PoW development days focusing on equality, networking and leadership skills at Hartlepool College, AV Dawson, Yarm School and Teesside University. They have also attended a range of inspiration days where they met business leaders and visited industry to learn more about different careers. They have been held at a range of venues including PD Ports, Intelect, Ampleforth School, Cambridge University and Teesside International Airport.
PoW runs a monthly networking event at Bentley’s Coffee Shop, either at the family-run independent café’s Boho Middlesbrough or North Shore sites, which brings together female business leaders and professionals to form strong connections and work together to support PoW. It also runs regular popular social events to raise money to support the PoW ambassador programme.
PoW is sponsored by Bentley’s Coffee Shop, BTS Fabrications, C&A Embroidery, HR Alchemy, HR2Day, Intelect, Jacksons Law Firm, Liza Pontone (Active Financial), Masfix, Northumbrian Water, OOK, PD Ports, PX Group, Reign Accounting, Resolution, Resolution Media & Publishing, SASS media, Tees Business, Teesside University, 3M, Tracerco, and Yellowbox Marketing.
For more information about PoW, becoming a sponsor, the pupil ambassador programme or networking events, please visit https://powerofwomen.org.uk
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