01.07.10: PEF honours charities and young people

On 30 June, 2010, the Private Equity Foundation (PEF) launched its Full Potential Awards. Held against the urgent backdrop of nearly 1 million NEET young people, the event emphasised the crucial work of PEF’s portfolio charities in tackling the issue and celebrated the achievements of young people they have helped.

The highlight of the evening was the presentation of the Young Person’s Full Potential Award to Millie Greatrex. Supported by a PEF charity, each finalist had overcome significant challenges and, in Millie’s case, she joined Tomorrow’s People to stop drinking and drug taking and to stay out of trouble with the police. But that was just for starters.

With the charity’s support she’s gone on to take GCSEs and A Levels, volunteers to help young people in care and now hopes to become a psychologist. A staff member at Tomorrow’s People described her transformation from “an unruly and disaffected ‘no hope’ teenager into a bright and witty young lady” as “truly impressive.”

However, without PEF’s investment, Tomorrow’s People wouldn’t have been able to raise additional funding to sustain the programme in Plymouth which Millie attended.

Most Successful Portfolio Charity was awarded to School-Home Support (SHS) which works to improve children’s take up of education. It provides schools with highly trained, independent staff to help pupils and their families deal with any disruptive problems, from housing to domestic violence.

Jan Tallis, Chief Executive of SHS, said “Since PEF's involvement with SHS, we have seen accelerated growth from investment in business development, training & consultancy, fundraising, HR support, IT systems, leadership development for CEO, executive team support, strengthened contracts and relocating to more accessible premises. Our reach grew by 37% from January 2009 to April 2010, meaning we could support an additional 6,095 children and young people.”

In addition, the Full Potential Awards provided PEF with the opportunity to thank those who have donated exceptional pro bono expertise to support not only PEF but also its charities to scale-up so that they can reach many more children and young people.

Clifford Chance was given a Most Dedicated Company Supporter award for its unstinting work with PEF and legal help for its charities, amounting to some 1470 pro bono hours, while David Evans, a partner at Deloitte, was named Most Dedicated Individual Supporter. David, who has personally donated 245 hours, is a founding member of PEF’s Portfolio SWOT teams, created to better support charities entering the PEF portfolio, and has had particular involvement with two of them.

To round off the evening, guests gave £501,135, including pledges and an auction, with J.P. Morgan’s generosity as hosts ensuring that the total will go direct to PEF’s charities.

Shaks Ghosh, Chief Executive of PEF, said “We continue to face a crisis in our communities; a shocking 1 in every 7 of our young people is not in education or employment. But, as tonight has shown, the cause is not hopeless and neither are we helpless. PEF’s 17 inspirational charities are already changing more young lives. Our model, which brings together the private equity ‘tool kit’ of long term value creation, with pro bono business expertise, is helping them to become bigger and better, with every £1 donated to PEF having a 5X impact.

“I would therefore like to take this opportunity to thank our member and supporter firms, who together make PEF possible, and to say a special thank you to J.P. Morgan for hosting the evening. Last, but certainly not least, my congratulations to all our award finalists and winners; their stories are the best illustration of why and how PEF is empowering more young people to achieve their full potential.”

For further information and images please contact Rosie Davey at rosie@privateequityfoundation.org or call 020 7749 5129 / 07827 804066