Big day for me in Windsor. I was incredibly honoured to be invited with my wife Nicola to Windsor Castle this week to receive a CBE from HRH the Princess Royal, someone I have the greatest respect for.
The CBE was awarded for services to business and charity. Both activities are very definitely team endeavours so I see it as an award for everyone involved with both Reed and Big Give. Thank you for this award and thank you to everyone who made it possible.
What’s next? At Reed we’re continuing to invest in the future.
We’re opening Energy Academies to teach people green skills, we’re investing in AI alongside Oxford University to help people job search in new ways and we’re developing our Business School so that people can benefit from a wider curriculum.
At Big Give this week we are doubling donations made by the public to Global’s “Make Some Noise” appeal.
On Wednesday 11th October Big Give launches its Women and Girls Match Fund appeal and on Tuesday 28th November we will launch out annual Christmas Challenge appeal which we hope will be our biggest yet.
Thank you to everyone who so generously supports these appeals and the thousands of charities that benefit from them. Soon we will be one quarter of the way towards our target which is to raise £1 billion for good causes.
My father used to have his office in Windsor and as a boy I remember going with my mother to watch the changing of the guard in Sheet Street. I particularly liked the Irish wolfhound that didn’t always do what it was told. It felt very special to go back.
And yes, that is a Reed tie!