Taking a leap
Hi everyone,
With a new academic year upon us, we’re really excited to be welcoming new partners into our network. We never underestimate the leap of faith that it takes to choose to bring in an organisation to support the development of your own staff or students – you are allowing us to work with your people: your biggest resource. Not only that, you are courageous enough to work with Grit, an organisation that is going to challenge your thinking, and give you the space to reimagine how life could be. This is not ordinary stuff!
So this newsletter is an appreciation of those that take the leap of faith to commission us – whether it’s for their interns, their students or their staff teams – and also for those who go on to participate in our workshops. Putting yourselves on the line in service of bringing out the best in yourself and others. So much of the world is pushing us to do more that stopping to actually be is an act of bravery.
Thank you to those who take this leap of faith with us. We know from our long history that it pays off in ways that we can’t even predict at the beginning, we also know (and see our long-term impact below) that the changes people make as a result of this work last over time.
Let’s embark on this time of new beginnings with some hope, courage and togetherness and we look forward to telling you about how these partnerships develop over time.
Ellie
Picking up the Pace
The new term has barely started and already it’s been non-stop here at Grit! We’ve been working with year 12 Global Majority students as part of the Thrive programme at the London School of Economics, with returning students at the University of Sheffield and with undergrads at Edge Hill University.
And now the pace is really going to be picking up. We’ll be delivering to students preparing for placements at Surrey Medical School, and delivering 1-day resilience workshops at Solent University. We’re starting a new programme with the Student Communities team at the University of Bristol alongside the programme with the Bristol Black Associates we started last year. And we’re so excited to be bringing Grit to some universities for the first time: to Oxford Brookes University and Kings College London.
Then there’s our Black Leaders programme. This term it’s taking us to the Universities of Plymouth, Hertfordshire, Leeds, Warwick, and Manchester and to Nottingham Trent Uni. We’re running workshops for Global Majority students at the University of Exeter and, for the first time at Glasgow Caledonian and Edinburgh Napier Universities.
Not to mention our programmes for staff. We’re so pleased to be back with staff teams at the London Borough of Newham, Sunderland City Council, West Notts College and the University of Portsmouth. We’re thrilled as well to be starting work at the London Borough of Merton.
And we’re also working with our friends at the University of Portsmouth and schools in the area on the Boys Impact agenda…
Looking forward to catching up with friends old and new on our travels. It’s going to be a great term!
Find out more about Grit’s programmes in universities, with staff teams, and in schools and colleges.
Octopus in Colour
Over the summer Grit trainer Kim delivered a training session as part of Octopus Energy's Octopus in Colour internship programme. Octopus in Colour internships give the next generation a chance to experience what a career in the future of energy looks like, and help foster greater diversity and inclusivity across the business and industry.
Says Kim, “the session was designed to support students who identify as Black, Black British, African or Caribbean. It focused on building confidence, leadership, and a sense of belonging, themes that resonate deeply with the lived experiences of many participants as they step into new professional environments.
The 32 interns who took part formed stronger bonds and connections with each other than when they first walked in. Participants shared openly, engaged fully, and walked away feeling empowered and more confident in their own value.
It's a brilliant example of the impact we can have when we're given the space to do what we do best.”
If you’re an employer and you’d like to talk to us about how Grit can support your EDI efforts, or work on employability in a university and are interested in the difference Grit can make, contact ellie@grit.org.uk.
Three Words for Grit
A couple of times a year we go back to students who’ve taken part in a Grit programme between six and 12 months earlier to find out what happened next …
Over the five years we’ve been surveying students we’ve had a response rate of 32% across 31 universities.
85% of students who had been considering leaving, are still at university
91% are still setting themselves goals
85% have an increased sense of belonging
78% have increased resilience
77% of students on our programmes for Black Leaders and Global Majority students have influenced others by being a role model
And when we asked students to describe their Grit experience in three words, this is what they told us…
Read more about our longer-term impact with students.