Within just a week of its launch, more than 80 colleges have added their support to the new Good for Me Good for FE community action initiative, which is being spearheaded by three principals.

Sam Parrett (London South East Colleges), Jo Maher (Loughborough College) and Stuart Rimmer (East Coast College) are leading the sector’s drive to collectively generate £1m of social value over the next year - and are delighted with the fantastic response so far. 

The campaign hopes to create a sustainable programme of community action across the UK, while helping to support wellbeing of FE staff, given the scientifically proven benefits that volunteering and supporting social causes has on mental health.

Commenting on the sector’s fantastic response, Dr Sam Parrett CBE, says: “The response we have had from the sector to Good for Me Good for FE in just a week since launch has been phenomenal - a quarter of all FE colleges in England! This commitment to generating social value completely reflects the crucial role of colleges as Anchor Institutions.

“Not only will this initiative help local communities around the country, it will enable colleges to better support the mental health and wellbeing of staff and students. Myself and my colleagues are incredibly excited about progressing activity and I thank every college who has already committed to being involved.

“We will soon be announcing several charitable partners coming on board, who will help open up volunteering opportunities for our staff – and ensure the campaign can sustain long term impact and action.” 

Stuart Rimmer MBE, CEO at East Coast College, adds: “We’d like to thank all our colleagues up and down the UK who have committed to becoming part of this venture. It feels that the time for a focus on volunteering and community contribution really is now.” 

Jo Maher, Principal and CEO at Loughborough College, adds: “FE is just brilliant. To see the engagement from Principals, CEOs and their colleges for this campaign, after the volume of work they have got through in the last 18 months, is a real testament to our shared values and passion for social mobility.

“We have been blown away by the support and we care deeply about make this campaign a fantastic success. Thank you for all of your support.” 




The collaborative effort will build on the huge success of FE Foodbank Friday. This was a national campaign spearheaded by London South East Colleges and supported by over 30 other colleges around the country during the pandemic. Over £47,000 was raised and 20,000 food items were collected for local foodbanks.

The initiative will focus on:

  • The continuation of Foodbank Friday
  • Encouraging FE staff volunteering activity within and outside college communities
  • Developing corporate and charitable partnerships to sustain long term impact -  which will be announced soon.

The impact of the campaign will be measured in monetary terms via London South East Colleges’ social value calculator. This system has been developed using the National TOMS framework, independently verified by the Centre for Local Economic Strategies (CLES) and the Social Value Portal.

Other key performance indicators, including the number of food items and the amount of volunteering hours, are being developed to ensure the full impact can be captured.

Good For Me Good For FE: Colleges and Organisations backing the campaign
London South East Colleges*
East Coast College*
Loughborough College*
York College
Kingston Maurward College
City College Plymouth
Weymouth College
SMB Group
Weston College
Oldham College
West London College
Derby College Group
Exeter College
Education Training Collective
Wigan-Leigh College
West Thames College
Sparsholt College
The Trafford College Group
IOW College
USP College
Leeds College of Building
Heart of Worcester College
MK College
Greater Brighton Metropolitan College
DN Colleges
Walsall College
Runshaw College
Prestons College
Nelson and Colne College Group
East Sussex College Group
Middlesbrough College
Stanmore college
Midkent College
Nottingham College
Central Bedfordshire College
Dudley College
Glasgow Clyde College
Harlow College
Coventry College
Burton and South Derbyshire College
New College Swindon
Northampton College
Suffolk New College
Eastern College Group
Warrington and Vale Royal College
Boston College
Bournemouth and Poole College
Luminate Education Group
Brockenhurst College
Inspire Education Group
Bath College
Wiltshire College
TEC Partnership (Grimsby Institute)
Burnley College
City of Bristol College
Newham College
St Brendan’s 6thForm College
Basingstoke College of Technology
Myerscough College & University Centre
RNN Group
Waltham Forest College
Shipley College
Darlington College
Hertford Regional College
East Riding College
Colchester Institute
Capital City College Group
Newcastle and Stafford Colleges Group
Fareham College
North Warwickshire and South Leicestershire College
Southport College
City College Southampton
Newbury College
City College of Liverpool
Lincoln College Group
Croydon and Coulsdon College
New College Durham
The Sheffield College
Havant and South Downs College
Gateshead College
South Essex College
Hull College Group
Herefordshire, Ludlow and North Shropshire College
Truro and Penwith College
Grantham College
Uxbridge College & Harrow College
Cheshire College

For any college interested in finding out more visit our website or contact Andrew Cox at London South East Colleges: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.  


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