From 'fiasco' schoolwork to managing director: Meet Yorkshire Champion Simone, inspiring young learners across the region

For the last 13 months, Simone has volunteered with the organisation of mentors which support, inspire, and motivate young learners to think beyond what they often think is possible.

Simone says: “In almost every school I’ve shared my story with, there has been a student or a teacher who has come up to me and said, ‘I needed that message today. Thank you for sharing your story.”

The experience of a broken home, and early childhood traumas, marked a painful start to Simone’s life and education.

She sayd: “My teachers were trying to teach me my 123s and my ABCs, but it wasn’t reaching me because my ears were blocked, filled with the traumas I had and the issues I was going through at home...I would carry the weight of shame and poverty and lots of issues that didn’t allow me to interact and perform well.”

The turning point came in the spring of 1999, when Simone went with her family on a trip to the London Planetarium, at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich. It was there that she gained a new perspective and a desire to achieve.

“I had this moment where, all of a sudden, I realised life is incredible,” she says. “I’m here, part of this. Something so huge and I’m so small. In the Planetarium, looking at the globe from space, all these personal issues that had felt so huge, suddenly felt small.”

The following Monday, Simone hurried into Yorkshire Martyrs Catholic College and went straight to her English teacher, telling him: “I need to pass my GCSEs.”

“He said the best thing anyone could have ever said to me,” she explains. “That I haven’t been putting the work in, but if I really wanted to change, then I could. He said, ‘Simone, it’s possible.’ That was all I needed, someone to believe in me while I was just learning to believe in myself.”

From then on, Simone devoted herself to her studies. Gradually, the D grades and the Xs on her assignments and exams turned to A grades. She gained a place at the University of Bradford to study International Relations and Security Studies, and afterwards, went on to achieve a Master’s degree.

Now, Simone is the managing director of the Dandelion Organisation Ltd., founded and set up by Simone in 2018, a private limited company in personal leadership development. She is also part of the small army of committed volunteer ambassadors who make up Yorkshire Champions.

People from a diverse range of backgrounds, including those in the police, fire service, university professors, judges, fitness instructors, models, sports professionals, creative arts individuals, technology specialists, nurses and entrepreneurs, volunteer their time for free to give inspirational talks to youngsters in schools, colleges and universities across Yorkshire.

Gill Arnold JP DL established the Yorkshire Champions Group in 2016. Gill has been a magistrate for 20 years and during that time has seen countless young people come before her whose lives, she says, could have been so different had they been given more support and a clearer direction in life.

It was her experience of dealing with youths and young adults in the justice system that inspired her to establish the Champions, her main aim to recruit role models to inspire young people to show them that anything is possible, whatever your circumstances. The Yorkshire Champions website only went live in January 2022, however the ambassadors have already given inspirational talks to almost 30,000 children.

Gill, who is Chair of The West Yorkshire Bench and is also a Deputy Lieutenant of West Yorkshire, says: “Many children feel that success, wellbeing and a secure future is for other people, underestimating their own value and abilities….We want all children to recognise that successfulness and having ambition is not the preserve of a few.

“There are many reasons why young people do not always achieve their goals or dreams in life, or become what they would like to be. This is not just determined by their background, immediate family, or financial and emotional support. It can be as simple as feeling 'ordinary ' or believing they have no special or distinctive qualities. If these qualities and talents have never been tapped into, then this immediately closes off many avenues of opportunity for that young person.

“Children need mentors, they need to understand what is available to them or how to create a path to reach their ambition. We have to instil confidence in their capabilities...Both I and the Champions are passionate about improving the life chances of the young people of Yorkshire.”

University of Bradford Deputy-Vice-Chancellor Professor Zahir Irani is among those who volunteer as a Yorkshire Champion. “The Yorkshire Champions group signals the passion that many of our regional leaders have in raising the aspirations and ambitions of our early-stage learnings across our district,” Professor Irani says. “I really hope other regions across the country see how we are opening up the world of opportunity to our young talent.”

Yorkshire Champions is run by Bradford’s Education Partnerships team, supported by Bradford Council. Visit www.yorkshirechampionsgroup.co.uk