Waterhead Academy secures Silver Award at UK Social Mobility Awards

The 2022 UK Social Mobility Awards Fundraising Gala took place recently, and Waterhead Academy took home a Silver Award in the ‘School/College of the Year’ category.

The winners were announced at the event at The Royal Lancaster London Hotel.

The gala returned as an in-person event for the first time in three years, and was hosted by comedian and former TV Executive, Cally Beaton.

It saw organisations and institutions committed to advancing social mobility across the UK come together to celebrate their work and share best practise.

Amazon were the Gold Partners of this year’s awards.

The UK Social Mobility Awards were set up to recognise organisations that are prioritising social mobility, for example through recruitment processes and progression programmes, outreach within the local community, or by developing innovative ways to create change.

This year’s judges included a panel of esteemed leaders, chaired by Sir Kenneth Olisa OBE.

Judges included Lord Mayor Alderman Vincent Keaveny, Amanda Mackenzie OBE, Sandra Wallace CBE, Karen Blackett OBE, and Steven Cooper CBE.

The ‘Schools/College of the Year’ category was championed by international banking group BNP Paribas, with Waterhead Academy achieving a Silver Award.

Waterhead Academy’s social mobility programme focuses upon providing a range of careers and further education opportunities to all students to enhance their future aspirations and show them that regardless of their economic background, they can still achieve their future career goals.

The Academy has developed partnerships with over 40 regional and national employers and educational providers which has enabled them to facilitate a range of educational and careers engagement opportunities.

It is one of only a few schools nationally to achieve all eight Gatsby Benchmarks.

Neil Wilson, Assistant Principal-Personal Development at Waterhead Academy, said: “Staff and students are delighted that Waterhead Academy has been shortlisted as a finalist in the 2022 SOMO Awards ‘School/College of the Year' category.

"Our nomination is testament to the range of careers and enrichment opportunities that our staff facilitate for our students to enhance their personal development and to prepare them for their next stages of education and employment.”

Tunde Banjoko OBE, Founder of the UK Social Mobility Awards, added: “The UK Social Mobility Awards is a vehicle to raise awareness of social mobility and showcases the individuals and organisations who are dedicated to its advancement.

"The number and quality of entries we received for this year’s awards is an indication of the increasing significance of social mobility to UK business.

"We are thankful to all our category champions for supporting this year’s awards and for their important part in raising awareness of social mobility across the UK.”

The winner of this category was Trinity Academy Leeds, and the other shortlisted finalists were Christ’s Hospital in West Sussex, Tile Cross Academy in Birmingham, Stowe School in Buckinghamshire, Brighton College, and St Brendan's Sixth Form College in Bristol.

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