When Baden-Powell ran his experimental camp on BrownseaIsland, he did not realise that he was starting a movement. But that’s what happened. One boy told another about the fun that couldbe had by becoming a Scout. Anothertold another. The modest concepts ofgetting together with a group of your friends, having fun, getting involved inan adventure,…
I would not trade in my education for anything. It has formed my mind and character, enhanced my ability to enjoy the experience of living and enriched my understanding of other people. I revere education as the process by which society deliberately transmits its accumulated knowledge, skills and values from one generation to another. But…
My Facebook wall was littered this morning with the pictures of friends’ children, dressed in pristine school uniforms, beginning term at their various new schools. Their faces all tell similar stories of excitement and nervousness – as much for their parents as for the children. If the books I have been reading over the summer are…
This blog was written for the Ambition AXA Awards. As the Ambition AXA Awards work on unearthing some talented treasures among our young population, it seems like a good opportunity to shine a spotlight on a hidden force at work in the British economy. A million budding business people have passed through Young Enterprise’s Company…
Today I had the opportunity to address the amazing international team of adults who will be working to support the participants at this year’s World Scout Jamboree in Sweden. They arrived at the site today, having travelled from all over the world – and have paid for the privilege of working extraordinarily hard for the next…
Last week I wrote about my friend Matt, the video games designer who, just leaving university, is preparing for a career that will include jobs that have not yet even been invented. A number of readers have asked what our schools should be teaching, if all knowledge is now just a click away on Google…
Meet my friend Matt. Videogame software designer and world traveller. A true Millennial individual, whose values are as different from those of Joan Armourtrading’s hit “Me, myself I”, as chalk and the proverbial cheese. What sort of a world are he, his generation and the generation we’re currently educating going to inhabit? It’s one where…
I had a call from a friend last night. She was in floods of tears. She had just got home from her weeklyvolunteering commitment as a Cub Scout Leader, working with 30 inquisitive,demanding and boisterous boys and girls. Last night, a parent of one of the children had arrived forty minutes lateto pick up her daughter. …
So, The Apprentice has once more taken hold of my life every Wednesday night. Just as in previous years, I am captivated by the apparent idiocy of the decisions made by the competitors, the backbiting and the lack of emotional intelligence they display. Then I watch Dara Ó Briain interview the ‘fired’ candidate immediately after…
This blog entry was written to support the Ambition AXA Awards 2011… I’m often asked what makes a successful entrepreneur. I recently posed that question to some of Young Enterprise’s most successful alumnae – people who have taken part in our programmes at school and then gone on to start their own companies or become successful business…