Social impact

Teach First

As well as providing financial support to educational charity Teach First, Meridian West provides support through coaching, leadership and mentoring activities among both pupils and Teach First participants.

Every summer we offer a paid internship to a Teach First participant to help them gain experience of work in a professional business environment.

Read more about Teach First’s work here.

Rhythmix

Alongside his responsibilities as a Director at Meridian West, Alastair is also Deputy Chair of Trustees of Rhythmix, one of the UK’s leading music charities. In 2017 Rhythmix was nominated for Arts Charity of the Year at the UK Charity Awards.

Rhythmix provides music making opportunities to people in challenging circumstances including children and young people (in care, with disabilities, with mental health problems, in hospital and hospices), people who are homeless and older people with dementia.

Kidscape

Meridian West collaborated with Lauren Seager-Smith, CEO of the anti-bullying charity Kidscape, and her team at Kidscape to better understand the needs and experiences of carers in keeping their children safe from bullying and harm.

In partnership with Critical Research and Kidscape, we designed and conducted a survey with 300 parents and carers to explore these areas and their perceptions of Kidscape and anti-bullying charities. We then analysed the final results to identify common messages from carers. We then translated these themes into actionable recommendations for Kidscape in refreshing its brand, creating a positive tone, tailoring its resources to diverse audiences and providing real-life stories. Meridian West consequently ran a workshop with Kidscape to create a design brief to help inform Kidscape’s rebrand.