English UK named association of the year at The PIEoneer Awards
We are thrilled to have been named Association of the year in The PIEoneer Awards 2021.
We won the award, judged by a panel of international education experts, for our focus on supporting members and UK ELT through the Covid-19 pandemic. The awards, run by The PIE, celebrate innovation and achievement in education with 19 different categories.
Our chief executive Jodie Gray, who accepted the award at the ceremony at London's Guildhall on Friday 3 September, said:
"It has been an extraordinarily challenging year for everyone, not least the ELT industry which has been harder hit than most. I'm really delighted with this award, which recognises both that we are stronger together and the extraordinary amount of hard work and dedication that my team have put in to supporting our members during 2020-21. We are still focused on ensuring that our members, and the wider ELT industry, have the support they need to not only survive but thrive in the future."
"We were asked to explain what our members get from being a member of English UK that they can't get elsewhere. The ELT industry in the UK is worth an estimated £1.4 billion to the UK economy every year but is little known or acknowledged beyond those directly involved. Our members join English UK because we provide them with a voice and connection to a community of peers."
Our submission outlined how we supported members during 2020 - we provided them with 135 free webinars, a weekly Q&A session, a free online conference and "pay-what-you-can" three-day international summit, six editions of tailored Covid-secure guidance and the continuation of student statistics schemes. We also talked about our campaigning on behalf of the sector, producing a policy paper with 14 asks of government, contacting over 70 MPs and many peers either directly or through members, concessions we won on discretionary business rates relief and Covid-19 support grants and a nine-month reprieve on the end of ID card travel.
Our submission also referenced quotes and acknowledgements received from members during the pandemic: "The team have excelled themselves in support of all its members over the last 6 months - you are the glue that has bonded us all - long may it continue," said one. Another said: "You have been the light at the end of the tunnel, the voice of reassurance and positivity. We can't thank the team enough for what they have been doing for us. What a difficult task, but done with so much passion and enthusiasm."
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