School to welcome inspirational speakers with launch of exciting new lecture series

AN INSPIRING new series of talks delivered by some of the most engaging and motivational speakers on the lecture circuit is being launched at Dame Allan’s Schools this month.

Pupils, parents and guardians, Allanians, and members of the wider Dame Allan’s community are invited to attend ‘The Lectures’, with keynote speakers, including Dragons’ Den star Sara Davies MBE, economist Roger Martin-Fagg, physicist Ruth Gregory, and award-winning international speaker, Marcus Child.

The Lectures will open with Marcus on October 19 to an audience of up to 250 guests in the school’s Newsom Hall.

Marcus’ talks focus on our choices and behaviours and how they directly influence our growth, our experiences and our outcomes.  His high energy delivery is packed full of fascinating stories and compelling science.  For over 26 years he has positively impacted the lives of hundreds of thousands of people across the world working with young people, business leaders, sportspeople and politicians alike.

He said: “Now more than ever young people should be confident in their abilities and bold in their ambitions. Their futures will be full of challenge and opportunity. I hope that through my talk they will give themselves permission to explore and adopt new habits and behaviour that will serve them throughout their lives.

“I’m really pleased that students will be joined on the evening by parents and friends who will be able to discuss the lecture with them and so be able to better support them through having shared the same experience. The Lectures is a brilliant initiative by Dame Allan’s, I’m delighted to be involved and honoured to have been asked to launch the series.”

The Lectures programme is backed by Allanian Mark Dolder, CEO of Northumberland-based Bazaar Group, who attended Dame Allan’s in 1971 – 78, and feels inspired to ‘give back’ following his own success in business.

“I've come to appreciate how much my time at Dame Allan’s has contributed to a successful career that now affords me the privilege to give something back. I was well educated, and developed confidence and social skills that took me to senior positions in the business world,” he said.

“Consequently, this lecture series has been conceived to inspire today's students by bringing to the school a blend of the best business speakers, high-achieving Allanians and some household names to share their wisdom and stories.

“If anyone in the audience thinks bigger, aims higher, or exceeds the expectations they have set for themselves as a result of hearing our speakers, then the project will have been a roaring success!”

The programme of lectures for the academic year includes:

October 19: Marcus Child – a motivational speaker who has empowered thousands of people to make positive changes in both their work and personal lives.

November 1: Roger Martin-Fagg – a behavioural economist and business educator who specialises in making economic activity, trends and indicators understandable to non-economists!

February 16: Sara Davies MBE – an investor on BBC One’s Dragons’ Den and entrepreneur who, aged 21, founded Crafter’s Companion, a multi-million pound business with a global distribution centre in County Durham.

March 23: Allanian, professor Ruth Gregory - a notable mathematician and physicist who specialises in the field of cosmology.  

Principal Will Scott said: “There’s a real buzz in the air in anticipation of Marcus’ visit to Dame Allan’s, because pupils and teachers alike know of his reputation as such an inspiring and captivating speaker.

“We are exceptionally fortunate, with Mark’s generous support, to host such an exciting programme of high calibre speakers, and feel proud to be creating an interface between business and education that will bring immeasurable benefits to those who attend these lectures.”

Allanians can book tickets for the first lecture of the series on the events section of the website.