“Take something you love and do it brilliantly!” – this was the advice that Ruby McGregor-Smith, CEO of Mitie plc, gave to the young girls and their mothers graduating from the latest schools completing the Mosaic Primary School Programme today.

Girls and their mothers from Malorees Primary School in Kilburn and Thomas Buxton Primary School in Tower Hamlets were the latest group of graduates of the Mosaic Primary School Programme. The programme, which brings inspirational female mentors in to schools to work with mothers and daughters together, raises the aspirations of the young girls and empowers their mothers to better able to support their daughters fulfil their potential.

Today’s graduation event was generously hosted by international law firm Norton Rose at their headquarters in London. At the event, attendees were inspired by speeches from Ruby McGregor-Smith and Marie Sigsworth, Groups Corporate Responsibility Director at international insurance firm Aviva plc. Both women told their own stories of reaching the very top of their professions through hard work, passion and a determination to make a difference to the world. Attendees also heard from Mosaic mentor Fatima Najm, Co-Founder of Creatives Against Poverty, who spoke passionately about how she had seen the girls and mothers almost visibly grow in confidence over the course of the programme.

Jonathan Freeman, Mosaic’s National Director, said, “The Primary School Programme provides a vital opportunity for girls, many of whom are growing up in tough communities, to be inspired at a very early age by fantastic role models who can show them just what they are capable of achieving. We are hugely grateful to our volunteer mentors who support the programme and all those who support this vital work.”

View photos of the graduation event on Flickr

Over the course of this year, Mosaic’s Primary School Programme will support over 500 girls and their mothers in 30 schools across the UK. The programme has been very generously supported since its inception by Criterion Capital.

If you are interested in becoming a mentor on our primary school programme, please sign up via our website.