REACH Events Scholarship

So we have a bit of news... BCD Meetings & Events and ACA Live have pledged to support the scholarship initiative for the 2024 student intake at Bournemouth University Gabrielle Austen-Browne FRSA (she/her) our co-founder said: "We're so excited to have ACA Live and BCD as donors for the REACH scholarship initiative. Their investment in the future of our industry is not only transformative for the recipients but also a powerful statement about the value of diverse perspectives and experiences in the events sector." Michelle Biggane head of talent acquisition UK, BCD Meetings & Events said: “We are excited to be sponsoring future talent in their educational pursuit within the meetings & events industry. By partnering with REACH and providing students with the tools they need to be successful, we hope this has a direct impact in enhancing the representation of historically underrepresented groups in our sector.” Alexandra Crawley client director, ACA Live added: " The REACH scholarship helps us to redress the balance, directly benefiting students from Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic backgrounds. We're really proud to be involved in REACH, providing young people with a foot up on the ladder of success." Jonathan Goode head of fundraising and alumni relations at Bournemouth University, said: “We are pleased to be joining other universities to deliver REACH Scholarships to students joining our degree programme in events management from September. We are thankful to our two company partners for providing this scholarship funding and look forward to seeing the impact this will have on the recipients. We’d love to hear from other companies wanting to increase diversity in their workplaces through this innovative programme.” Robert Kenward, the other co-founder of REACH said: “I’m incredibly proud of the impact that REACH has achieved so far and thrilled that we have two agency powerhouses onboard for 2024. This is a continuing campaign, we will continue to work with a new university each year and we are actively looking for more companies to come on board and help increase the diversity of our industry, from the ground up.” The initiative was launched with students at The Manchester Metropolitan University who are now in their second year of their events management degree course, with grants supported by DRPG Identity TRO and YOU search & select. In 2023 Northstar Travel Group Because Connected Experiences, and emc3 supported students starting their event management degree courses at University of Hertfordshire Companies that are interested in making a positive and long-term impact to D&I in the industry can contact; Gabrielle Austen-Browne (gabby@diversityalliance.co.uk) or Robert Kenward (Robert@RecruitmentProf.com) for more information. #eventprofs #edi #meetingprofs #experientialmarketing

The REACH Events Scholarship was set up by Robert Kenward and Gabrielle Austen-Browne FRSA (she/her) after they discovered that 40% of Event Management Degree students drop out due to the £5k per year cost of living expenses on top of everything else. Of this number, 92% were from a Black, Asian or unpresented minority background!!! Every survey over the last few years has shown the #eventprofs #meetingprofs #experientialmarketing sector is 80-90% white. Most of the respondents were London based where the UK split is 50/50. You do the maths. The scholarship aims to change this number. Last week the team attended the The Manchester Metropolitan University UK House of Lords celebration of philanthropy and thanks to people in the pictures like Andrew Orr Harriet Bullen TRO Dale Parmenter DRPG Sophia McNeill MInstF(Cert) Marie Kuffour and many others, we're making real change. This year we're working with Bournemouth University and if you're a company looking to instigate real #EDI change in our sector, please get in touch with one of our co-founders. You have the power to change the future. gabby@diversityalliance.co.uk robert@recruitmentprof.com