How Ford Britain Outreach Benefitted 3,500 Students in 2023

DUNTON, UK - Ford Britain’s long-standing Outreach Programme directly benefitted 3,500 students around Southeast Essex and England this year.

Made possible by passionate, dedicated Ford volunteers, it delivered over 15 programmes to schools, colleges, and universities for students aged from six to 21 and above.

Ford’s Naheed Akhtar-Saddique explains: “Whereas most companies focus on graduates, we realised that early year engagement is the most critical and formative stage of education choices.”

The programmes include:

Code First Girls (led by Ghulam Rasool)
Delivered two classes to 93 women on Intro to Javascript and branded as sponsored by Ford. Sixty seven per cent of applicants were from under represented communities, and 86 per cent were from a non-computer science background. Eighteen per cent identified as euro diverse. Ford was also featured as part of an Employer Spotlight on publications with 960,000 monthly readers and on social media as part of the #mumswhocode campaign.

Primary Engineer (led by Sarah Haslam, Buki Okoro, Stela Boneva)

A year-long engagement with Essex Primary Schools bringing engineers and engineering into primary school classrooms, aligned to the UK’s national curriculum, reaching 1,695 children in 2023.

Greenpower Sponsorship (led by Naheed a Saddique)

This supplies age-appropriate kit cars for build-in educational settings, which can be raced at Greenpower-organised events, reaching 1,200 participants.

The Girls into STEM Athena Programme saw 50 people take part in a four-day residential at Loughborough University

Girls into STEM Athena Programme (led by Debbie Chennells)

A four-day residential for 14 to 15 year-olds, jointly developed and led by Ford Fund and Loughborough University, supported Women at Ford and Mobility Team members, which includes smart mobility workshops, reaching 50 participants and up to 10 schools each year.

Ford Fund Smart Mobility Challenge (led by Debbie Chennells)

This annual event, led by Ford Fund, challenges university students to develop a sustainable urban mobility solution, and three winning teams get grant funding to deliver their project proposals. The challenge takes place in Germany, Spain and the UK, and a number of the ideas that launched with the Ford Fund challenge are fully developed start-ups now. This year, teams from across Europe came together for the first time as part of a scale-up accelerator event.

Future Youth Zone (led by Debbie Chennells)
Future Youth Zone is a centre in Barking and Dagenham offering wraparound care when schools and colleges are closed. Ford Fund supports a digital tech media squad programme for underprivileged youth, and employees from Dagenham Diesel Centre support. More than 100 young people have benefitted to date.

Disability Innovation Challenge participants in action

Disability Innovation Challenge (led by Daniel Gimeno Ferrer)
A challenge for students of MSc Disbability, Design and Innovation run by Loughborough University, UCL and University of the Arts, London. Ford has been the corporate partner for the Collaborative Challenge of the MSc since its launch five years ago.

Every academic year, 30 students divided into five to six teams respond to the challenge and present their ideas to Ford colleagues in Stratford.

Formula Student is an exciting international competition

Formula Student (led by Tariq Willis and Jamie Sears)

Formula Student is an exciting international competition that brings together the brightest hardware and software and engineering minds from universities across the world. Ford sponsors British student teams competing in the UK events as they design, build, test and race a small-scale formula-style racing car built to IMechE specifications and rules.

Participants compete against over 100 universities across different classes – driverless, EV, Ice and Hybrid.

Ford iAccelerator (led by Stacy Juniper and Gemma Davey)

This is a virtual work experience initiative for BAME students who work in teams in a Ford project and present their ideas to senior leaders at the end of the week. It gives the students an amazing opportunity to learn skills that will help them to be successful in their future careers.

Girls in Technology (led by Stacy Juniper, Gemma Davey, Jen Martin, Heather Russel and Molly Moynihan)
A fun and educational day which provides insight into Ford/Ford IT to encourage girls to consider a career in a STEM-related subject such as IT. Between 30 to 40 students from three to four local schools are invited to Dunton Campus for a fun-filled day of activities, discussions, and the chance to go out on the test track. The initiative targets girls who are choosing their GCSEs and encourages them not to dismiss STEM-related subjects.

International Women in Engineering Day (led by Sarah Haslam, Alice Swallow, Molly Starkes and Katie Mann)
A student taster day held at Dunton Campus on International Women in Engineering Day (IWED), that introduces female students aged 13 to 14 to various functions and concepts, with 60 participants.

First Lego League (led by Alex Walker)
This introduces students through STEM learning and exploration to understand the basics of STEM and apply skills in an exciting competition while building habits of learning, confidence and teamwork skills.

Mentoring – Enactus (led by Alex Walker)
Gives participants the chance to undertake real work and adjust to the routines and habits of working life to significantly improve their employment prospects.