Nathan Sawyer- Social Mobility Advocate

“As a second year trainee I participated in a citizenship day at a local inner city school in Leeds - Mount St Mary's. This had been arranged by Dan Brooks, Leeds Tax Partner and BDO's 'Citizenship' partner sponsor, who works with Ahead Partnership, an organisation established to tackle social disadvantages and connect young people to opportunity.

As a group of second year trainees we created a 'Dragon's Den' style day of activities for the students including, designing a music festival, preparing a budget for the event, and finally presenting their pitch to four of our Directors and Partners at the end of the day. It was such a rewarding experience, the school is so diverse with over 50 languages spoken and the students were really engaged and appreciative of the time we gave them. I'd never done anything like this before and the whole day really warmed my heart.

The Leeds office continues to work with Ahead Partnership, taking second year trainees into different schools and replicating the Dragon's Den style day. But Mount St Mary's had a huge effect on me and I wanted to continue to build my relationship with the school, Dan has been really supportive of this encouraging me to use my Citizenship days. I've been back every year since, arranging various activities for the students including a visit to the Leeds office to share business insights, mock interview sessions and a careers evening. I’ve found being encouraged to spend time on citizenship activities by leaders like Dan, has really started to shape my career and skills, I’m looking forward to bringing more ideas into this space.”