Teach First: Inspirational Leaders Transforming Children's Lives

At Teach First we are working toward a future when every child can succeed, regardless of background. We believe that inspirational teaching and leadership can transform a child's life opportunities.

When people in the developed world think about people living in poverty, the images that come to mind aren't often of the communities that surround us. Yet in Britain today, 3.5 million children are growing up in households so poor that providing basics such as heating and food is a daily struggle. Children growing up in poverty can all too often become trapped in a downward spiral of low educational achievement, inferior job opportunities and greatly increased chances of drug use, poor health and involvement with crime. In some areas they will even die sooner than their wealthier neighbour.

The gap in educational achievement is wider in the UK that in almost any other developed country, and the cost to the country is grave.

• The reading skills of children from disadvantaged families are, on average, more than two years behind those of pupils from wealthier backgrounds, a gap twice as wide as most other developed countries.

• 1 in 6 young people leave school unable to read, write and add up properly.

• Just 16% of youngsters eligible for free schools meals progress to university, compared in 96% of young people educated in independent schools.

• The UK's economy will see cumulative losses of up to £1.3 trillion over the next 40 years if we fail to bring the educational outcomes of children from poorer homes up to the UK average.

At Teach First, we recruit dynamic, passionate graduates and career-changers to teach in schools in low-income communities. We select only those who demonstrate leadership potential, a passion to change children's lives and the other skills and attributes needed to become an excellent teacher and leader.

These participants teach and lead in our partner primary and secondary schools in low-income communities across England and Wales. We only work with schools where more than half the pupils come from the poorest homes. Only 4% of newly qualified teachers would consider working in these schools, but all of our teachers commit to working there for a minimum of two years, ensuring that every child has access to an excellent education.

Since 2002, we have trained more than 4,500 teachers to work at more than 500 schools in low-income communities. We are building a movement of leaders who will change the education system, eradicating educational disadvantage and making a meaningful impact on children, their families and communities.

But there is still so much to be done. There are still more than 4,000 schools in the UK that are eligible to work with Teach First that we are not yet partnered with. By 2015, we want to recruit, train and place 2,000 new teachers every year to work in the schools that need them the most. Citi Velocity can help us to reach this ambitious target, reaching out to more passionate and determined individuals who can make life-changing impact in classrooms across the country.

Our mission to end educational inequality drives everything we do - it's an ambitious goal and we know we cannot achieve it alone. So we work in partnership with schools, charities, businesses and individuals who want to ensure that every young person can succeed in life. We nurture and champion innovative approaches to education, initiate conversations and influence decision makers to bring about change. We run projects to increase young people's confidence and participation in important decisions about their future, including access to higher education. Citi Velocity and E for Education will help us to expand and accelerate our impact and change more children's lives.