I believe that, collectively, the smallest contributions can make the greatest change and maybe just maybe amongst this hidden pool of talent we might just uncover the next great mind, innovator or creator!
My visit to No. 10!
On the 29 July 2012, I was invited to No.10 Downing Street to discuss Beyondtheschoolrun!
I had written a letter a few weeks earlier to introduce David Cameron to BTSR and to my huge surprise I received an email asking me to come in and meet his special advisor for women and family issues, Laura Trott.
As you can see from the photo, I was greeted by the lovely Downing Street cat Larry and then went on to have an incredibly positive meeting with Laura, during which time she listened, supported and fully understood the ethos behind Beyondtheschoolrun and plans for the future.
The meeting was not only a wonderful experience but has given me a huge amount of inspiration & motivation.
My story so far
I am Louise Webster, mother of 2 and founder of www.beyondtheschoolrun.com. I came up with the idea for BTSR, based on my own personal experiences as well as observations of the world around me. I used to run, Rare Communications, a PR agency specialised in the kids and parents sector. I set it up very much with the thought that it would provide me with the flexible working opportunity I had hoped for when I started a family. So four years into the business, an established team, offices and along came my first chid. Within a year and a half of being a working mother I realised what on paper seemed great was infact very different – I hadn’t created a flexible working environment but yet another small corporate – one which demanded a lot of attention. So I decided it was time to take time out, to be a mother, I had so much to digest and learn and this was an important time for me. About two years later and a second child, I then decided I would benefit from starting to connect with my skills again and felt the need to take steps back into the working world again. And so it started, the issues around returning to work on a flexible basis. It was with these experiences and becoming aware of the amount of talent drifting away from the schoolgates each day that I started to dream up the concept for Beyondtheschoolrun.com. Beyondtheschoolrun.com launched in March 2011 and in the past 4 months has generated over 20,000 page views, press coverage across a range of media and even an invitation to No.10 Downing St to discuss the concept.
There’s a lot of debate about whether women can have it all – maybe collectively we can create a great path for us all as well as future generations. Join BTSR and let’s see where this journey takes us!