JACK PETCHEY’S Speak Out Challenge, the world’s largest public speaking competition for young people, celebrated reaching the milestone of training 250,000 young people with an event last month.

A quarter of a million young people from across London and Essex have received a full day of public speaking training with an expert, as well as being given a platform to express their opinions openly. The impact on students is profound, from increasing their empathy with the views of others to improving their ability to work under pressure – both key life skills.

The programme is managed and delivered by Speakers Trust, the UK’s leading public speaking organisation, and is supported by the Jack Petchey Foundation. Together they offer free communication skills training to Year 10 students in every state school in London and Essex, and train up to 30,000 each year.

The celebratory event included hearing an inspiring speech from the reigning ‘Speak Out’ champion, Michael Akinyemi. There was also a celebration of the teachers and coordinators that have made this milestone possible, with a spotlight given to Dominic Mackie, a previous finalist who is now a teacher enlisted his own students.

We are confident that the programme has created generations of young people who have and will go on to use their voices to achieve important things, to make change, to identify solutions to problems and to create a better society for us all

Gemma Juma, Jack Petchey Foundation’s CEO

Speaking about the achievement of training 250,000 young people via the programme Gemma Juma, Jack Petchey Foundation’s CEO, said: “We are so proud of our partnership with Speakers Trust. We are confident that the programme has created generations of young people who have and will go on to use their voices to achieve important things, to make change, to identify solutions to problems and to create a better society for us all… and that is what it really is all about!”

Alanna Beeken, Programme Director for Speakers Trust, added: “We are so proud to have reached this incredible milestone thanks to the steadfast support and partnership of the Jack Petchey Foundation, and Sir Jack. We would like to extend a huge thanks to the teachers, trainers, team and young people who made this possible. We look forward to training the next generation of leaders and change makers as we look ahead to the next quarter of a million young people trained.”

This year’s Speak Out programme is still ongoing, with the Grand Final event taking place at the Cambridge Theatre, London, on 10 July 2023 at 7pm.