My first term with the Tutorfair Foundation - Joss Story

My first term with the Tutorfair Foundation - Joss' Story This September saw Joss joining the team as Foundation Director. As we approach the end of his first term, we asked him to reflect on his first few months here and tell us what to expect from the year ahead. I’m so excited to have joined the Foundation this year. I’ve admired Tutorfair’s socially responsible model since I first came across it on a school visit in 2017, and I’m delighted to have the opportunity to lead a wonderful organisation in making a real difference. As expected, the first term has been a busy one. The Foundation had been without full-time leadership for the year before my arrival, so there was work to be done organising its various activities into a clear strategy and finding the best route forward into 2020. Over the last two years, the focus has been building and delivering Tutorfair On-Demand as a way of scaling volunteer-led tutoring nationally. Now that Nesta’s Click Connect Learn  has come to an end, we can once again invest in our network of partners and increase the number of local programmes running in London and Birmingham. And we’ve started well this term, supporting nearly two hundred students across various projects and bringing lots of new tutors into the community - including the Foundation’s 1,000th volunteer. What a milestone! We’ve got plenty more in the pipeline for the New Year, with new programmes and partnerships getting underway from January. All of this is made possible by three things worth reflecting on as we head into the Winter break. Firstly, the passionate and positive volunteers that give their time and energy to make our programmes work. These wonderful people have been the greatest surprise to me in my short time here â€" from those who are joining us now to those who are returning for a second or third year with the Foundation. We’d be nowhere without them and simply cannot praise them enough. Secondly, the generosity of everyone who gives to the Foundation â€" mostly those booking through Tutorfair, but also the organisations and individuals who sponsor individual projects or open doors for us. Every penny that comes to our charity is the result of a choice that someone’s made â€" and the cumulative effect of those choices means we get to drive our mission forward. Thanks to everyone who’s helping to keep us going. Finally, the fantastic group of people who work or have worked for the Foundation â€" not least Tas who I suspect is responsible for the steady and inevitable turning of the Earth. Thanks to everyone for their passion and support through a fantastic first term with The Tutorfair Foundation. Here’s to many more. If you would like to volunteer with the Foundation you can sign up here.  If you’re interested in working with our volunteers or supporting our fundraising, get in touch with the team at foundation@tutorfair.com.