Posted on 22nd January 2009
Breakthrough Social Investment Fund will invest £230,000 in Teach First, the national charity that recruits top graduates to teach in challenged schools.
It is the fund’s seventh investment, and Teach First will receive the money over two years to support development and growth. The charity was set up in 2002 to attract the best graduates to teach in challenging secondary schools in London, the North West and the Midlands. The partnership between education and business aims to encourage graduates who would not normally consider a career in teaching to take up a two-year placement. Teach First has attracted more than 1,000 graduates since 2002 and has announced plans to increase recruitment to 850 graduates per year by 2013.
“Teach First has achieved incredible scale in its short history and its social impact has been far-reaching,” said Adele Blakebrough MBE, chair of the Breakthrough advisory panel. “Breakthough is proud to be supporting such a driven social business to scale up and maximise their impact on the schools, pupils and Teach First graduates.”
Business advisors from Permira and Community Action Network (CAN), who co-founded Breakthrough, will provide additional support to the management team at Teach First.
