Become a Mentor Donate

As Chair of One Degree, I want to thank you for your support and donations to our small, resilient, high impact charity this year!

Dear Friends,

Young people need support now more than ever during so many of the health, political and economic challenges that lie ahead.


1. Big Give success


We reached our Big Give target thanks to you, and our 2021 programme can now take place. Our minimal overheads mean your money will go directly into activities that will increase student confidence and motivation, and exam success.
We’ll focus on three things this year:

  • More flexible academic support during our in-person sessions
  • Complementary support through our online mentoring platform
  • Summer 2021 career support carried over from Summer 2020 and our lost time during Autumn 2020

2. How did we do in 2020?

This year we converted our in-person programme onto our own online platform, leaving our students feeling more supported than most, and they managed to achieve 93% passes for their GCSE’s!


3. Where do we need support?

Government grants and big corporate sponsorships don’t often target small charities like us, and so donors and small company donations is how we keep our programmes running. Partnerships also play an important role – for example EY’s D&I team are supporting One Degree students through mentorship from their entry into One Degree all their way through apprenticeships / university and work.  Can you introduce us to potential partners?

Once again, THANK YOU for helping improve the lives of disadvantaged students.


best regards,

Riaz Shah

Chair, One Degree

Riaz is a senior partner with EY, the global professional services firm, where he is currently responsible for the learning and development of over 70,000 people. He is also part of the AMP coaching faculty for senior executives at Harvard Business School.

He is a passionate about social enterprises, and is also a board member of the Prince of Wales’ Mosaic program, Common Purpose, as well as the the Bright Ideas Trust, which supports NEETs in becoming entrepreneurs.

Riaz studied at a comprehensive school in Luton’s Marsh Farm estate, Bradford University Management Centre and Harvard University.

Find out more about Riaz here.