SMF sponsors Linklaters hosted our second APP launch and made the students feel very welcome at their impressive offices. The students who attended this event also had an opportunity to meet older SMF students, who are currently in Year 13 or at university. As always, our APP alumni students were passionate champions for the work we do and the firms who support us. The alumni encouraged the new students to make the most of every opportunity and to feel like a part of the ‘SMF family’ as one alumni put it! The new students really enjoyed hearing first-hand about what they will be involved in as an APP student.

Our final launch took place at long standing supporters Baker & McKenzie and was a smaller, but by no means quieter, occasion! SMF trustee and partner of the firm, Tom Cassels took time out of his busy schedule to come and welcome our new students to the APP. The new students asked lots of great questions and were eager to get talking to their mentors and attend our events.

Exhausted but excited after the launch events, School and College Relations Officer Tom Bateman said, ‘the launches are the most exciting time of the year. We get the chance to meet the new students and start to build up the relationships that will shape the year ahead for the School and College Relations Team. It is also a great opportunity to get some initial feedback from the students about their hopes and aims for the year ahead.’

A big thank you to everyone who helped make the launch events happen – from sponsors to alumni! The launch events were a great team effort and we cannot wait to see the students again at our forthcoming ‘Future Days’.

The concert, featuring headline act, Instant Sunshine, will take place at the Royal College of Physicians, 11 St Andrews Place, Regent’s Park, London NW1 4LE. Instant Sunshine, which comprises three RCP fellows and their bass player, write and perform their own music. Using hilarious self-parody, the songs take a sideways look at everyday events and are performed in an understated but very funny style.

The evening is open to all. It starts at 6.00pm with a canape reception followed by Instant Sunshine from 6.30pm to 8.00pm and a drinks reception and buffet from 8.00pm to 9.00pm.

Tickets cost  £35 per person, and for every ticket sold, £20 will go to the Social Mobility Foundation and Future Hope charities.

WINNER – Abigail’s account of her time with Railpen Investments this summer

Tip 1: Do Your Homework!

Read up on basic things like what your placement company actually does but more importantly find questions to ask the professionals you’ll be working alongside. They were really informative at RPMI, different people from different sections of the company gave up time to present their role to me and an example of the typical work they do on a normal day. One thing they all asked was “do you have any questions?” and I can assure you, the answer to “do you like working here?” gets quite boring. This changed by the end of the week where we discussed the scale of the risk that the ‘Eurocrisis’ posed against the UK.

Tip 3: “You’re on time if you’re 5minutes early; you’re late if you’re on time.” Coach Carter

I’m not sure who provides the timings for TFL/’Google maps’ journeys but they weren’t so accurate during my internship. I did manage to get into the office at the time we started but my journey always involved sprinting through the Liverpool St Station barriers, narrowly sliding past dangerously stopped buggies and wheelchairs, batting away the man handing out the daily freesheet…You get the picture. My boss was really considerate though as long as I called in if I was going to be really late. It may sound silly, but taking a ‘practice trip’ down to your workplace would probably be more reliable than online approximations.

RUNNER UP – Gloria’s account of her three weeks at Barclays Audit this summer

The nine to five life became the norm to me after the first couple of days. Even before it was time to get up for work, I was rearing to go and the complete opposite when it was time to leave the office – I was often escorted out. I was truly engrossed by my set tasks. But every day I was up for the challenge ahead of me. I determined to make every experience count.

My communication and analytical skills and determination has grown to another level; most importantly, my confidence has shot through the roof. Each of them saw special potential in me that I did not know I had and brought out something in me that I could not. But what I saw in each of them was far greater. They taught me to change my perception on the thoughts I once had. I learnt that whatever background you have or grades or university you go to does not have to determine your future. Through hard work and positive thinking, you can do anything you put your mind to. With this now in mind, I will go the extra mile to achieve anything that I put my mind to and will take on anything of worth in order to better myself.

RUNNER UP – Tonnima’s account of her time on Bar Week in July

The intermittent pulse of taxi doors thud, heels clacking. Thumbs punching smart phone contraptions, the silent touch-screen tappers lurk beside. Well, I would say these are the sounds of a rather sinister atmosphere – what’s SMF doing plonking us in the middle of the big bad world of barristers?!

It has been a week of eradicating, and in some cases, confirming stereotypes I had brought with me at the start of this experience. Yes, there are the… well let us call them interesting, wigs that Barristers do wear. Yes, some judges are incredibly scary – and yes some of whom possess glares that could send me to intensive care (my admiration to Barristers on their composure in such circumstances). However, what defeated me the most in this entire process was that Barristers… are HUMAN BEINGS!

Guests heard a keynote speech given by the Deputy Prime Minister, Rt Hon Nick Clegg MP, calling on the profession to do more to improve social mobility, before enjoying a dinner provided by the nearby Michel Roux Jr restaurant.  An SMF student spoke powerfully after the meal about why support from the foundation had been so important in helping her to achieve her goals.

Many thanks to the FSLA for hosting the dinner which raised £17,000 for the SMF and has led to further interest in its work from the legal and financial sectors.

Watch this space for future updates on our APP 2010 students!

The Programme, which was detailed in the Government’s Social Mobility Strategy (Opening Doors, Breaking Barriers), will involve the coordination of a two-week residential programme for 60 Year 12 students from across England, who will undertake internships in Government Departments in Whitehall. The students are high-achieving young people from low-income backgrounds, and there will be at least 3 students working in each Government Department, including the Treasury, Home Office and Foreign and Commonwealth Office. Participants will reside in University of London accommodation and take part in a range of supplementary activities to develop their professional and employability skills, as well as social activities to introduce them to London’s attractions.

The Programme aims to raise the aspirations of young people who would not ordinarily have the opportunity to access Whitehall. If the evaluation shows the pilot to be a success there is the potential to roll out the Programme. David Johnston, Chief Executive, said “the SMF are delighted to have won the contract to coordinate this programme. Since 2006, we have been providing these sorts of activities to precisely the cohort of young people this Programme will benefit.”