Harry was the youngest ever winner of the World Slam Poetry Competition in 2012 and published his first poetry collection, The Sunshine Kid, three years later. He has appeared at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and on The Russell Howard Hour TV show as one half of Harry & Chris – “the world’s greatest comedy-rap-jazz-duo”.
He is also a self-confessed maths lover, having delivered a TEDx talk entitled “Embracing my inner maths nerd” and penned the famous “A Love Poem For Lonely Prime Numbers”.
For National Numeracy Day on 19 May, Harry is sharing his enthusiasm for numbers by recording an online video featuring a specially penned rap. He will be encouraging children to have a go at his rap flow and make up their own using the video and a rap activity sheet.
Harry says: "I’m thrilled to be an ambassador for National Numeracy, numbers have changed my life in a big way, whether it is noticing the patterns in nature or constructing rhythm and rhyme in my writing, but I’m aware that (as with poetry!) some people are put off because of a bad experience they’ve had when they are younger, so I hope that by reframing it more people are able to experience some of the joy that maths can bring."
Sam Sims, Chief Executive of National Numeracy says: “We are delighted that Harry has agreed to become a National Numeracy Celebrity Ambassador. Harry’s infectious enthusiasm for words – and numbers – is evident in everything he does, from his sell-out Edinburgh Fringe 2019 show ‘I Am 10,000’ to Tedx talks on the links between maths and poetry’.
“His school workshops encouraging students to write and share their poetry are wonderful examples of how Harry’s passion for words and numbers go hand-in-hand and can inspire others to think about numbers in a new way. It’s great to have him on board to help us promote better skills and confidence with numbers this National Numeracy Day.”
Harry joins our fantastic celebrity Ambassadors, Rachel Riley, Martin Lewis and Bobby Seagull, Katya Jones and Peter Sawkins who all freely give their time and energy to help the adults and children in the UK get on with numbers so they can get on in life. Watch this space for more celebrity announcements this week!
We’ll keep the details of Harry’s rap a secret for now, but you can join Katya, Bobby and some of our other celebrities for a National Numeracy Day sneak peek live event on Wednesday 21 April at 6pm on our website or tune in to National Numeracy’s Facebook, Twitter, YouTube or Linkedin channels.
National Numeracy Day 2021, with founding supporter KPMG, aims to empower adults and children to improve their confidence and competence with numbers in three key areas of their lives: for work, supporting children, managing money.
On 19 May, you can join live events, use loads of free resources in our hubs and join in fun with Katya and other celebrities, all while improving your numeracy skills and confidence. Pop date in in your diaries now.
However, you don’t have to wait until then to get started on building your number confidence and skills – you can have a go right now by trying the National Numeracy Challenge – it only takes 10 minutes to get started.
