What better way to end the school year than with a celebration of the progress made by students who took part in the Mosaic Mentoring programme. Students from both Bordesley Green Girls in Birmingham and Kings School in Wolverhampton were visited by Mo Chaudry, the Chairman of the most successful water park in the UK ‘ WATER WORLD’ and he has also appeared on the TV programme ‘Secret Millionaire’.

The day, Thursday 14^th July, started at Bordesley Green Girls. It is fair to say the Mosaic students were in awe as he shared his journey of testing times and career highs but his message of Motivation, value of Education, Self -belief and the notion that one should never give up remained consistent. He was inspiring in his passion for young people to succeed in anything they decided for themselves and showed his vigor when describing how he wanted to do everything that people said he couldn’t.

He engaged the students with the three keys to success and has always applied them in all his endeavors, he went on to say ‘everyone first needs a trigger, that will kick start their EXTRAORDINARY MOTIVATION to do what they want to do, and then you must take some element of calculated RISK and follow your instincts and finally NEVER QUIT regardless of how hard something is.’ He ended his enlightening talk with ‘human potential is endless and that with a ‘can-do’ attitude your success knows no bounds’.

The students responded to his relaxed, humorous delivery asking him questions about his other achievements apart from business and he openly shared his success in sports having previously made it to the Olympics and playing cricket against a few well-known names.

Then it was the turn of the young mentees on the Mosaic Stars programme to take centre stage and present their experiences and share their very own personal development successes gained through the programme. They confidently expressed how the programme aided them to build pathways for their futures, map out clearer goals that are attainable, instill leadership as well as how their self confidence and sense of independence is on the rise. They are a true reflection of what the Mosaic programmes intentions are and they made it clear that ‘just because you are from inner city schools doesn’t mean you can’t be successful.’

Certificates were presented by Romana Qureshi (West Midlands Regional Manager) to Mosaic students, and received a well deserved round of applause. Mo Chaudry then went on to deliver his inspiring and powerful talk to an assembly of 120 girls at Bordesley Green Girls. They listened attentively, with ‘woahs’ and ‘oohs’ whispering across the room as he gave accounts of his school life, working in a factory and how as he didn’t have role models amongst his family he took his inspiration from within and always remained positive.

Lunchtime approached and all made the most of photo opportunities with Mo Chaudry and each other making sure the memories of the day were captured. We then arrived at Kings School with a very warm hearty welcome from the Head Teacher and Margaret Everett, Head of RE. The afternoon began with a question and answer segment led by Romana Qureshi with the Mosaic students. They shared their experiences and the personal development progress they have made, with their peers. To commend them for their commitment to the programme they were all presented with a certificates and a roaring round of applause.

Mo Chaudry was raring to go for round two of his talk to the large crowd of excitable students. He spoke to them with the same degree of passion and delivered his inspiring thoughts and tales of his life’s journey and how he reached his staggering success in business through “desire, hard work and motivation for success”.

The students at Kings School were most certainly impressed at Mo Chaudry’s story of having failed at school first time round but returning to his education to pass with flying colours. He felt strongly that “all young people should get an education; it is a platform for your future.” He captured the enthusiastic young audience with tales of celebrity encounters, while he humbly answered questions of “Sir, what car do you drive?”

With his words of encouragement, positive approach to any difficult times in his life, and friendly manner, Mo Chaudry most certainly captivated his student audience, who eagerly took time to stay behind, shake his hand and indulge in some one on one time with this unique successful business man.

Sue Hughes, Deputy Head of Bordesley Green Girls, told Mosaic later that week ‘Mo’s inspirational talk hit the right note not just with students but with staff also. One of our staff even referred to him in her retirement speech to students in assembly- stressing the motivation element and the fact that it is never too late to do something. Without people like Mo giving up their valuable time it would be difficult to bring the world of work to students’. Another teacher added ‘the girls were so inspired by Mo and how it made them think about applying the 3 key ingredients to success to their everyday life in school and outside’.

Mosaic is extremely grateful to Mo Chaudry for spending the day reaching out to students across the region and hopes to welcome him again in the near future.