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Clive Lewis - the Chair of REACH

Clive Lewis is the chair of REACH. 

"I believe the REACH role-modelling programme offers the opportunity to significantly enhance the community's offer to young Black boys and men. Indeed research also shows that the opportunity cost of failing to raise aspirations and attainment in this group amount to some £24bn over the next 50 years."

Simon Woolley - Operation Black Vote

Simon Woolley is the director of Operation Black Vote, a group that campaigns for greater race equality and Black representation in public life.

"We have looked for somebody who is dynamic and who can give something back to the community in a positive way.

"The role models we chose have the gift to inspire a generation.  In a society that far too often looks negatively on Black boys, we have a small army who can uplift them to be the best they can be."

Leroy Logan - Metropolitan Police Service

Leroy Logan is a Metropolitan police officer and a founder member and first chair of the National Black Police Association (NBPA).

“Role models are not just celebrities. They are also the people working in their communities who have contributed to give young people a sense of hope and expectation. They are the unsung heroes."

Ozwald Boateng OBE - tailor and designer

Ozwald Boateng OBE is a leading tailor and designer, who has spent more than 20 years at the forefront of British fashion.

"There is a real need to inspire young Black men and I think that can only be achieved by demonstrating Black men from different professions doing well, achieving great things in sciences or the arts or whatever it may be: I think that is going to be a powerful thing for the youth to see.

Tim Campbell - The Apprentice 2005

Tim Campbell won The Apprentice in 2005, and worked for Sir Alan Sugar for two years before leaving to start his own business and set up the Bright Ideas Trust.

“I think what is bigger about the REACH project for me is the two things it can potentially create and that is about hope and opportunity.

"I am incredibly proud about the legacy we can potentially leave for the next generation. It’s about making a difference: that is what we are here for and as Barrack Obama always says, it is about change. Let’s make the change happen today.”

Does role modelling work?

“It's been clear to me that you have made a positive difference to this group of boys.  It must not be forgotten that the behaviour of this group was extremely negative and challenging. I feel that your work with them has made them more positive about their school and more responsible in their individual and collective actions.”

Dan Dickens, Deputy Head, Sedgehill School, on the role model programme run by REACH member Ken Barnes. As part of the programme, pupils with challenging behaviour met successful Black professionals, such as doctors and lawyers.