The DHL UK Foundation has supported The Difference over the past four years as a key funding partner in its mission to reduce the number of young people losing learning through exclusions, suspensions and absence. The Difference has evolved its programmes and strategy from working primarily with school leaders to engaging across entire schools to create sustainable inclusive change.

We have supported The Difference to deliver the Difference Leadership Programme which placed mainstream school leaders into Alternative Provision settings to develop inclusive practice with the most vulnerable children. After two years, these leaders returned to mainstream schools to apply what they had learned, implementing inclusive practice.  The DHL UK Foundation continued to support The Difference when it moved to an all-school approach piloting the Difference Schools Partnership programme. The programme was trialled with 9 schools and works intensively with schools over multiple years to reduce lost learning.  Through these two programmes, together with the Inclusive Leadership course, The Difference has trained over 600 school leaders in over 350 schools, with over 200,000 young people benefitting from this training.

“Our partnership with the DHL UK Foundation has had a transformative impact for so many young people up and down the country by making their schools more inclusive. Together we have strengthened the schools’ leadership capacity to support their staff in everyday interactions with children facing the most challenging times in their lives. As a result of our partnership, young people are leaving school feeling more confident and able to pursue the employment opportunities they deserve and join the workforce.
We are so grateful to the DHL UK Foundation team, trustees and all the brilliant colleagues across the DHL business for their generosity, partnership and support.”
Kiran Gill, CEO, The Difference

We extend our thanks to The Difference for its partnership and impact. We look forward to seeing the continued success of The Difference and its growing influence on school inclusion in the years ahead.

You can read more about The Difference and their work here: https://the-difference.com/