Blog
29 Feb 2024
By Tori Monks, National Numeracy Partnerships Manager
As our third and final year of partnership with The Lord Mayor’s Appeal begins, it's an opportune moment to reflect on what an incredible second year it’s been!
Over the past 12 months this multi-faceted partnership has harnessed the power of collaboration, driving our shared mission of improving Londoners’ opportunities and expanding our collective networks across London.
At the heart of our partnership is our initiative Every Londoner Counts. Together we’re improving the employability and financial inclusion of thousands of Londoners, by building a network of 500 newly-trained Numeracy Champions.
Numeracy Champions act as mentors to support positive attitudes and encourage more people to improve their skills. Year 2 marked a huge milestone for us, reaching 250 Champions trained!
The generous funding from this partnership has also played a pivotal role in supporting our flagship campaigns, National Numeracy Day and Number Confidence Week.
These initiatives engage people on a mass scale to improve their numeracy, providing invaluable resources and fun activities, and ultimately contributing to our shared goal of promoting the importance of number confidence and numeracy skills.
Our campaign resources also created staff engagement opportunities, with The Lord Mayor’s Appeal team coming together for a Big Number Natter and reflection on their own feelings towards numbers.
Central to this partnership is collaboration across the Lord Mayor Appeal’s diverse calendar of events. Whether through the provision of speakers, essential resources, or active participation, National Numeracy offers a spectrum of support to drive the success of these occasions.
In April, the Lord Mayor brought together representatives from financial institutions for his Financial Inclusion and Literacy Summit. We were delighted to chair a panel emphasising the crucial role of numeracy in financial education and reinforcing the importance of our cause. This event underscored the impact achievable when 0organisations unite for a common cause.
City Giving Day in September is an impactful initiative that provides organisations from across London (and beyond) with the opportunity to showcase their philanthropic and volunteering achievements.
The day celebrates the power of collaboration, with organisations coming together to open London Stock Exchange in the morning, fiercely competing in the Tour De City Wattbike challenge, or breaking records with a Padel tournament.
November’s ‘Grand Finale’ commemorated the culmination of the Appeal’s year-long fundraising efforts and was nothing short of spectacular. Our game introducing the National Numeracy Challenge to the guests added some fun to the evening, while encouraging them to reflect on their own attitudes to numbers. We were proud to be one of the first charity partners to collaborate on this event, and it was a powerful reminder that when we join forces, we can achieve remarkable things.
The year ended with the Impact Reception showcasing the profound societal impact of collaboration.
It brought together passionate individuals and organisations dedicated to positive change, including our ambassador Timi Merriman-Johnson, who sparked meaningful conversations about numeracy with our Challenge questions.
The stories shared by our Numeracy Champions, Nikki Chatha and Mokbul Hussain, underscored the real-world impact of our shared mission.
Collaboration also extended beyond events, involving partnerships with The Lord Mayor's Appeal programmes: Power of Inclusion, We Can Be, and This Is Me.
These collaborations facilitated new connections with like-minded organisations, offering opportunities to exchange best practices in mental health and workplace inclusivity.
This partnership has also provided National Numeracy with exciting team-building opportunities, from abseiling down the Lloyds building to participating in the Lord Mayor’s Show.
These shared experiences have strengthened our bonds as a team, creating lasting connections and memories.
With Year 3 collaboration already in full swing, the partnership will continue flourishing and offering opportunities to connect to prosper.
