National Numeracy joins The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, Place2Be, OnSide, and Samaritans as a Lord Mayor’s Appeal charity partner, helping to create an inclusive, healthy, skilled and fair city.
The Lord Mayor of the City of London Alderman Vincent Keaveny said: “I am delighted that The Lord Mayor's Appeal is partnering with National Numeracy to launch the Every Londoner Counts campaign. By supporting numeracy, we can boost people's self-confidence, financial independence, and employment prospects. This is a wonderful addition to The Lord Mayor's Appeal's charity partnerships.”
The Appeal said that National Numeracy complemented its ambition of addressing social issues and delivering ground-breaking programmes to create impactful and positive change within the city.
Chief Executive of National Numeracy Sam Sims commented: “Low numeracy blights lives and livelihoods and is holding millions of Londoners back. But this can change. Improving adult numeracy through the Every Londoner Counts initiative will help create opportunities for work and careers, as well as financial inclusion, for thousands of people across the city. National Numeracy is therefore delighted to be partnering with The Lord Mayor’s Appeal to achieve lasting change to adult numeracy in London.”
Every Londoner Counts will aim to improve employability and financial inclusion by supporting thousands of Londoners in greatest need to build confidence, skills, and positive attitudes to basic numeracy through a network of 500 newly trained Numeracy Champions.
Basic number skills and confidence provide a gateway to employment prospects and financial inclusion. Yet, poor numeracy, exacerbated by the pandemic, is limiting the life chances of half the nation’s working-age population, and it is being felt most acutely in London.
In London, the picture is stark: 3.5 million adult Londoners (58%) are estimated to have low numeracy skills. This has a disproportionate impact in deprived, low-income London communities, where numeracy skills are weakest; the detrimental impact is felt at home and work.
Research carried out for National Numeracy last year found that 38% of Londoners say they have avoided applying for a job or qualification because it – or the interview process – might have involved maths, compared to 18% nationally; the highest rate, by far, of anywhere in the UK.
However, a strong foundation exists for building numeracy in London: 75% of Londoners think ‘feeling comfortable with numbers’ has helped them progress at work or within their career more broadly, compared to 63% nationally.
Furthermore, 52% said they would ‘give it a go’ if their workplace offered to help them improve their numeracy confidence and skills, compared to national average of 42%. Both rates are the highest in the UK.
Addressing this issue now with the Every Londoner Counts initiative supported by the Lord Mayor’s Appeal will help open up a wealth of life opportunities for Londoners held back by low numeracy.
