In my last blog, I looked backwards on what Step Up had achieved this academic year, and I’m pleased to share a more detail overview of this through the release of our impact report which you can view on our website.

Now I am looking forwards to this academic year (even though it has already started). This blog nearly didn’t happen as we did think as a group of volunteers that we wouldn’t be able to continue to run the organisation due to our own individual capacities to volunteer and lead. We have been able to create an offer and plan which we hope will work – I am grateful for our amazing group of volunteers, who will lead Step Up next year as I step away from the organisation operationally and focus more on being a founder.

So, what do we have to look forward to then?

Our Membership Offer and Community

We are launching our new membership offer to ensure that we enhance our identity as a network and provide mutual support, opportunities and learning within the diverse community we serve. We have three tiers to our membership, the first of which is free. If you would like more information about our membership offer you can find further details below:

• Our Network and Membership Offer web page will be coming soon.
• Our Membership Flyer and Membership Brochures.

A key offer to our network members are our community calls which start in October. These are open to members only and you can find out more about them here.

Our Events

We will continue to hold our face-to-face events for our network and wider community. This year we are returning to our roots as a network revisiting the locations we hosted events in our first year of operation and we are holding these events in other not-for-profit organisations and social enterprises that align with our values, vision and mission:

• 8th November 2025 – London Lead Meet – Opogo Education
• 28th February 2026 – Manchester Lead Meet – Manchester Deaf Centre
• 25th April 2026 – Birmingham Lead Meet – Birmingham Friends of the Earth

Our sister social enterprises arm, Step Up Social Enterprises are running a number of webinars based on our social entrepreneurship and more charitable efforts based around our campaigns and priorities:

• Thursday 20th November – Stepping Up to Headship Webinar
• Tuesday 9th December – Inclusion Recruitment Webinar hosted in collaboration with the Belonging Effect (formerly Diverse Educators)
• Sunday 8th March – International Women’s Day Virtual Celebration
• Wednesday 10th June – 3rd Birthday Virtual Celebration

We are also in the final stages of confirming a further face-to-face event to celebrate our third birthday in London/the South East, we have set up an Eventbrite page provisionally here, we will keep you posted.

Our Programmes and Coaching

This year we trialled the launch of a programme which we ran in association with Nourish the Workplace led by Kimberley Evans. The programme lasted for four sessions and covered a range of wellbeing based activities to enhance and improve the wellbeing of educational leaders. The programme worked well with a small cohort. We have recently added a poll to our LinkedIn and X accounts to see what people would like in terms of our future programme and offer development.

Ever since we launched Step Up coaching has been something that people have continually asked for. It has taken us a while to discover what our coaching offer should look like and ensuring that we provide something that is suitable and appropriate for our community. Therefore, this year we are focussing on developing a coaching culture across our face-to-face events and our community calls. We are also developing and growing our coaching network and showcasing the many people who provide coaching within the sector. Click the links above to find more.

Our Calendar

You can see an overview of next year’s events and offer through the calendar page on our website by clicking here. If you’re wanting to access specific events and programmes then you’ll need to check out our Eventbrite page and make sure you follow us so you can be notified every time a new event appears.

As we begin to navigate this year, I’d like to thank everyone who has been involved with the organisation since its inception. I’ve personally met so many fantastic people who have now become great friends and connections.