The Leathersellers’ Foundation

Annual reports / Articles / Case studies / Charities / Storytelling

The Leathersellers’ Company is one of the City of London livery companies that dates from mediaeval times. The Company has been involved in education since the 17th century and currently supports the running of four schools in south-east London through its charitable fund, The Leathersellers’ Foundation.

The Leathersellers’ Company asked me to write an article about an innovative school mentor project for its Annual Review. I had the pleasure of interviewing Cherisa Kya-Scott, the Learning Mentor for the schools, as well as Paula Ledger, Executive Headteacher at Leathersellers’ Federation of Schools.

The programme is aimed at children in Year 8, as this was identified as a time when young people can start to lose their motivation. The idea of the project is to invest time, effort and resources in a particular group of demotivated students, providing them with extra-curricular activities that would open their eyes to new possibilities and broaden their horizons.

The project caused a buzz even before it began. Cherisa told me: “They’re all so excited about being involved. One student wants to go horse riding. One wants to play basketball. Another is interested in debating classes because they want to be a lawyer. Students want to do drama, sing and dance. They all want to play an instrument; I’ve had requests for lessons in piano, drums, guitar and trumpet.”

Since this commission, The Leathersellers’ Company has asked me to write several other stories illustrating their charity investments.