December 2017 – BeOpenFuture

BE OPEN Supports Entrepreneurial Community Projects by London Schoolchildren

21 December 201718 March 2019Ekaterina Vekova

Youngsters ‘Say NO to Knives’ and ‘NObesity’ as part of City Pitch, a dragon’s den style leadership programme which encourages children to step up and deliver social action ideas in their community. City Pitch is an initiative led by social mobility charity, the Mayor’s Fund for London, in partnership with the BE OPEN Foundation.

Armed with business plans and budgets, the final top six schools were invited to attend City Hall and present their entrepreneurial projects to a panel of judges for a chance to win up to £1,500 of funding.

BE OPEN Forges New Partnership with the Mayor’s Fund for London within City Pitch Leadership Programme

20 December 201718 March 2019Ekaterina Vekova

BE OPEN, the international think-tank founded by businessperson and philanthropist Elena Baturina to encourage and support creativity and design thinking in various fields of human activities, continues its cooperation with the Mayor’s Fund for London as the new lead partner of the City Pitch Leadership programme.

The City Pitch Leadership Programme involves young Londoners and helps them learn new skills while making a real difference to their communities. The programme offers young people the chance to develop important leadership, teamwork, and presentational skills, with professional mentors on hand to help them prepare their pitches. All the projects must present tangible opportunities to improve the life of their communities, and therefore make the city of London a better place for the younger generations through their own effort. By pitching their ideas to a panel of experts at City Hall, the children can secure funding for their projects.

The Mayor’s Fund for London Announces New Trustees

20 December 201722 June 2022Ekaterina Vekova

New Trustees have been appointed to the Board of the Mayor’s Fund for London. We are a social mobility charity that empowers young Londoners from disadvantaged backgrounds to acquire the skills and opportunities they need to secure employment, climb the career ladder and escape the threat of poverty. The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, is the charity’s Patron. Last year, the Fund supported over 31,000 young Londoners, across all 33 boroughs, working in partnership with 325 schools, 220 employers and 78 charities, social enterprises and local authorities.

Welcoming them to the Board, Chair of Trustees, Tim Roberts said, ‘The Mayor’s Fund has always benefited from the support and leadership of an immensely experienced, diverse and committed Board. Several of our first cohort of Trustees have now completed their maximum 9 year terms, and we are hugely grateful for their contributions. We are delighted to welcome new Trustees to take their place.’

Hundreds of Children Take Over City Hall to be ‘Mayor for the Day’ with Support from Elena Baturina’s BE OPEN Foundation

20 December 201718 March 2019Ekaterina Vekova

Friday 1st December saw hundreds of London school pupils, representing more than one million children from across the capital, come together to share their ‘Mayor for the Day’ ideas as part of the London Children’s Festival, developed by social mobility charity the Mayor’s Fund for London in partnership with BE OPEN, the think-tank founded and run by philanthropist and Mayor’s Fund for London Trustee Elena Baturina.

For several weeks since the beginning of the new school term, schoolchildren from eight London primary and secondary school considered how they would make the world’s greatest city even better for themselves, their fellow pupils, families and communities if they were ‘Mayor for the Day’. Each school created a short film and advertising campaign to promote their recommendations before presenting them at the Festival to an influential panel comprising Deputy Mayor of London, Joanne McCartney, the Children’s Commissioner for England Anne Longfield OBE, teams of Mayor’s Fund for London and BE OPEN.

Elena Baturina’s BE OPEN Helps Children Take Over City Hall as ‘Mayor for the Day’

19 December 201718 March 2019Ekaterina Vekova

Over a thousand schoolchildren from across the capital have been considering how they would make their city even better if they were “Mayor for the Day” as part of the London Children’s Festival developed by the Mayor’s Fund for London in cooperation with Elena Baturina’s BE OPEN foundation, the lead supporter of both the London Children’s Festival and the City Pitch programme.

Focusing on Mayoral priorities such as: ‘Jobs, Skills and Education’, ‘Environment, Health and Food’, ‘Crime, Safety and Travel’ and ‘Housing, Play and Public Spaces’, the London Children’s Festival asks children and young people, aged 9 to 14, to consider how they connect to and interpret these themes and explore their ideas and vision relating to the future of London.