Leadership Day 2025 – University of Chester

We had a whirlwind 24 hours at the University of Chester with our current School Leadership Award (SLA) holders. It was wonderful to welcome back the Class of 2024, who shared their experiences from their summer Community Action Placements, and to meet our new Class of 2025 as they began their journey with Rank and our School Leadership Programme.

The School Leadership Programme is one of our longest-standing initiatives, having supported over 1,500 students since its launch in 1978. Each year, we welcome a new “Class” with a Leadership Day, designed to introduce award holders to the Rank community, share our values, and outline what the programme involves. Award holders attend leadership events in both years of Sixth Form, take part in regular online meetings, and spend two weeks each summer working with a not-for-profit organisation, often connected to the Rank Foundation. The Leadership Day marks the beginning of this exciting journey, with the aim of supporting exceptional young leaders and inspiring them to lead purposeful lives and careers.

The overnight stay was full of highlights. Trustee Joel Buchanan opened with an inspiring talk on his leadership journey and the story behind Tutors United. What began as Joel’s idea to employ university students to tutor primary pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds has grown into a thriving social enterprise, rooted in housing associations and built on the principle of sustainable social change. It was the perfect illustration of how creativity, leadership and social purpose can come together to make a lasting impact.

We also heard from Jen MacKay of Jump Training, who delivered an energising workshop on speaking with confidence. This gave our award holders practical skills to use directly in their own presentations the following day.

Our young leaders shared some brilliant takeaways from these sessions:

• “I learnt that the first and last 9 seconds of a presentation are the most memorable moments, so make them count.”
• “I learned that the art of presentation is a key skill which a leader of the future should nurture.”
• “I learnt that leaders are forged through their circumstances.”

Over the two days, SLA holders worked in seven groups to design and develop their own social enterprise ideas. Their creativity shone through, with projects ranging from using sport to support offender rehabilitation to helping disabled people access outdoor activities. The imagination and thoughtfulness they brought to their pitches was inspiring, and it was clear that many drew on the real-world examples they encountered during their Community Action Placements.

We were also delighted to hear from Will Wyatt, Chair of Trustees, who reflected on the history of the School Leadership Award as the oldest of the Rank programmes. The atmosphere throughout was warm and encouraging, combined with the innovation and drive of a room full of young.

The event culminated in the much-anticipated social enterprise presentations and awards ceremony, where we celebrated achievements including Best Collaborator, Best Speaker and Best Idea for a Social Enterprise.

A huge thank you to everyone who made the event possible and to those who travelled to Chester to support our young leaders. It was a privilege to spend time with such motivated and creative individuals, and we cannot wait to see what they go on to achieve in the year ahead.

Ultimately, Leadership Day is more than just an introduction. It sets the tone for the rest of the SLA journey, nurturing curiosity, building confidence and giving these young people the best possible foundation to make a meaningful contribution to their communities and beyond.