A look back at 2023
Transcript
The Rt Hon Justine Greening:
There's no doubt that 2023 has been a challenging year for many people, particularly with the pressures on the cost of living. Yet those challenges have spurred us on with our Purpose Coalition work this year, because they show why connecting more people up, more fairly, to more opportunities matters so much. And our work shows this is possible. Our Purpose Coalition organisations may be very different, but one thing they all have in common: they're purpose driven and they all believe they can be an engine of social mobility.
This past year we've made huge progress and had a huge impact. In 2023 the Purpose Coalition grew bigger than ever before with more and more purpose driven leaders and organisations joining, from Southeastern Railways to Eon Energy, from law firms to infrastructure projects, and from NHS trusts to universities.
All these organisations are at the forefront of driving social mobility and breaking down barriers to opportunity. And they join an existing Purpose Coalition that has some of Britain's biggest names, including the Co-op Group, UK Power Networks, BP, Virgin Money, the BBC, Travelodge, Centrica, Leonardo, Sodexo, Pennon Group, Channel 4, Hitachi Rail, Reed in Partnership, The Royal Mail, The Adecco Group; universities including Solent University, Worcester, Greenwich, Derby, Bolton and Chester; councils including Essex and Warwickshire; and NHS Trusts, and many, many more.
We're shaping the agenda of purpose and social mobility like never before: at Party conferences, with ministers and shadow ministers, and through our policy roundtables through the Purpose Coalition, we're pioneering place-based work on social mobility and measurement as well. And we've seen new partnerships being forged between our Purpose Coalition organisations, so they get further, faster by working together.
And there's so much more impact that we can have. Each step that we've taken, not just talked about change, we've truly challenged ourselves and been the catalysts for it.
From our action plans to campaigns, it's been a year with some really extraordinary achievements and collaborative success with all of our organisations. Our new Leadership Advisory Council also launched this year and now brings our Purpose Coalition leaders together with a common voice on purpose and social mobility.
With an election in 2024, that voice has never mattered more, and we will continue to lead the way on shaping what it means for organisations of all kinds to have a positive impact. Together, we're more than just a coalition. We're a movement. A movement of organisations and people dedicated to unlocking potential across all our society, breaking down barriers to opportunity and boosting social mobility.
We've put the role of responsive business right at the forefront of the agenda and more organisations than ever before have a Purpose Goals action plan setting out their strategies for breaking down barriers, boosting opportunity and driving social mobility.
I'm very proud of that and I want to say a special thank you to all our Purpose Coalition organisations and leaders for your support, your passion, and your belief in our common social mobility mission.
Thank you for being with us. Stay engaged, stay inspired, and let's make 2024 even more impactful than 2023.
