ByA Charity Spokesperson, Ort UK
2 min read
ByA Charity Spokesperson, Ort UK
There’s a whole lot of love radiating from the ORT UK team – for their ORT Jump programmes, for their students, mentors and facilitators and for each other.
It’s this love that inspires team members Mia Lyons and Anna Black, who head the ORT Jump mentoring programme and Julie Cohen, who leads the ORT Jump employability skills programmes, to go above and beyond every day.
Between them, last year they ensured over 1,000 secondary school students took part in ORT UK’s career-related programmes. Teens across London and Manchester were given a Jump-start on their career paths, receiving one-to-one mentoring or small-group employability skills training led by experts. And this year, they’re set to reach even more young people.
Mia has worked for ORT UK for 12 years, matching year 12 students with mentors who help them navigate potential routes into employment and supporting both mentees and mentors throughout the process.
“I just love seeing the students’ confidence increase from when we meet them in September to when we see them at the ORT Jump mentoring programme graduation the following July,” says Mia.
“The graduation is such an amazing, celebratory event which brings together students, mentors, teachers and parents and gives us a first-hand opportunity to hear how much everyone has benefited.
“I also love building relationships with professionals from so many different industries,” she adds. “Our mentors gain so much from their mentees and this reverse-mentoring is incredibly rewarding for them. They return year after year and some have been mentoring on the programme since it launched 16 years ago, with just 25 students.”
By 2018, managing the ever-expanding programme had become a two-person job and Anna joined the team. Together, Mia and Anna grew the initiative so that today it runs in 14 schools and with partner charity Gateways. This year, an incredible 400 students have been paired with mentors.
Julie (fourth from left) at an ORT Jump working skills day with facilitators.[Missing Credit]
“I love it when the mentees return to us as mentors,” enthuses Anna. “Ten per cent of our mentors were originally ORT Jump mentees, who say they gained so much from the programme that they want to pay it forward.
“It’s also amazing that we now receive applications from students who don’t attend our partner schools,” she adds. “All because they’ve heard how much they can benefit from the programme. We’re a Jewish charity supporting people outside of the community and I love that we’re known for reaching out. It’s a great example of tikkun olam.”
In 2023, due to the success of the ORT Jump mentoring programme, ORT UK created four new employability skills programmes, run by new recruit and former teacher, Julie.
“Our programmes address challenges facing young people today and I love sharing that with school staff and other professionals,” says Julie. “You can almost feel the lightbulb moment when they choose to engage with our programmes.
“I also adore working with the students and encouraging them to have faith in themselves and to expect a huge range of opportunities to come their way in the future.”
With the team right behind her, Julie delivers working skills days in schools, a three-day employability challenge, an alternative work experience week and an international careers challenge in Israel.
“I love working as part of the ORT UK team,” she says. “They believe so passionately in education and always support each other to deliver the ORT Jump programmes.”
In addition to ORT Jump, ORT UK also runs fundraising events, such as its upcoming SpORT Business Breakfast. Proceeds are split between their UK projects and World ORT’s schools and training programmes in Israel, Ukraine and across the globe.
So what is it like leading this extremely dedicated trio? CEO, Dan Rickman tells us: “I’m incredibly fortunate to work with a fantastic professional team at ORT UK. Mia, Anna and Julie bring the personal touch to our ORT Jump programmes, engaging with every student, mentor and facilitator. The energy, passion and commitment they inject into the programmes is astounding. They each put their heart and soul into every element, which is the secret to ORT Jump’s success and why every year we’re helping more students to bridge the gap between school and the workplace.”
Registered charity 1105254