65 volunteers have now supported our Time to Talk programme since 2018. In this article we detail our 2019 programme which saw 30 volunteers visit 8 schools, delivering to 32 classes and over 800 pupils.

Jermain Jackman, former Chair of the Islington Fair Futures Commission, opened our recent panel debate on future-proofing skills for employment, with a rallying call to business, schools and the wider community, to assemble, to ensure young people had life skills and soft skills to succeed in the future economy. He called us Avengers.

Following February’s biggest trustee recruitment event to date, we are proud to announce that we helped over 30 employees from 16 of our member businesses become trustees of the 16 charities that were part of BIG Alliance/ELBA's BoardMatch6 programme. Below we hear from Katy Porter, CEO of Manor Gardens Welfare Trust, who describes the timeliness, effectiveness, and importance of the BoardMatch programme, at a time when reports suggest trustee recruitment continues to be a significant challenge in the charity sector.

For the 3rd year in a row, New North Academy were supported by Expedia Group as part of their school-wide Business & Enterprise Week. Each class in Year 3, 4, 5, and 6 was set the challenge of researching and creating an original and innovative holiday package and over 3 days volunteers from Expedia Group visited each class to help them learn about market research, target audiences, branding and marketing, and pitching.

Hosted for the first time in Islington by the BIG Alliance, Tuesday 26th February marked the sixth edition of the East London Business Alliance’s (ELBA) BoardMatch event, receiving our biggest attendance to date.