Our Impact

Annual Impact Report | 2024–25

Welcome

from our Chair & Chief Exec

We are immensely proud of what The Harpur Trust has achieved this year, both within our schools and across the wider Bedford community, particularly in the context of significant challenge and change. The introduction of VAT on school fees and wider legislative developments have required careful judgement, resilience and collective effort.

About the Harpur Trust

Every generation faces its own unique challenges. For 460 years, The Harpur Trust has provided a steady hand, helping Bedford’s young people to lean into whatever issues they may face. Founded in 1566 through the generosity of Sir William Harpur, the Trust was established to promote education and support the community. That founding purpose continues to guide us today: nurturing children’s potential, shaping young lives, supporting families and building communities that are stronger, healthier and happier.

Key Impact

Employer Investor Connector

We support the Bedford community in a wide varieties of ways and we are part of the fabric of the borough. Here is a snapshot of our key impact over the last year:

£40M

Invested into the local economy

We’re one of the largest employers in Bedford, with around

1200

staff across our four schools and Trust Office

£4.2m

committed to supporting the community

£4,175,383 commited to supporting the community:

With

£1.2m

given in grants to organisations and individuals

And around

£3m

in bursaries

3000+

children educated in our schools

177

pupils benefitting from our bursary awards

49

Bedford charitable organisations funded

61,563

local people benefitting from grants 416 school uniforms provided to local families in need

18

people received grants to study at university

£230,000

provided to 25 local schools to raise attainment

16,000

local people benefitting from free community events run by Harpur Trust schools

3,542

young people supported through Bedford Giving programmes (we are one of the founding partners of the movement which we also host)

Enabling more children and young people facing disadvantage to achieve their potential

The Accelerator Programme

Narrowing the Attainment Gap

The Accelerator Programme aims to narrow the attainment gap between disadvantaged pupils and their peers by supporting schools to enable more rapid progress for pupils, ultimately improving outcomes for Bedford’s young people.

Key Activity:

Why Do We Need the Accelerator Programme?

In 2024/25, only 56% of Key Stage 2 pupils in Bedford met the expected standard in reading, writing, and maths, compared to the national average of 62%.

For disadvantaged pupils in Bedford, the average was 40%.

WHAT HAS THE ACCELERATOR PROGRAMME ACHIEVED SO FAR?

8 of 15

schools now report a smaller disadvantage gap than the national average benchmark of 14%.

5 of those 8

have schools narrowed consistently over the last 3 years.

In Queen’s Park Academy and Cauldwell Primary, pupils eligible for Free School Meals made more progress than their peers, reversing the trend.

We are closing the gap!

Disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics (%). No data between 2020-2021 due to covid.

Queen’s Park Primary

Heart Academies Trust primary schools

Received received funding for targeted speech and language therapist support.

Cauldwell Primary saw a 44% increase in attainment.
Shackleton Primary achieved a 14.5% gain.
In Shortstown Primary made clear gains across communication, personal, social, emotional development, physical development, and reading.
100% of teachers reported improved motivation and engagement.
90% noted wellbeing benefits.

King’s Oak Primary

Family Support interventions

Dedicated and trained workers were placed in 8 schools to strengthen home and school relationships, improve attendance and wellbeing, working with 238 pupils and their families. This led to:

School Uniform Support

92 of the new students joining Bedford Academy in September received £50 towards the cost of school as part of our School Uniform Scheme.

Sponsorship of HEART Academies Trust

We are proud sponsors of the HEART Academies Trust, a multi-academy trust which comprises of Bedford Academy, Cauldwell Primary, Goldington Green, Shackleton Primary and Shortstown Primary.

The core aim of the partnership is to create a family of academies who are at the heart of their community, delivering great education for pupils aged 4-18 and improving life chances for all.

Ways we helped HEART Academies Trust schools over the last year:

Pupils from Goldington Green, Shortstown and Shackleton have all received art workshops run by professional visiting artists to enter the Harpur Trust competition and teachers took part in CPD art workshops run by The Trust.
8 University Bursaries worth £4,500 each were awarded to Bedford Academy students.
Funded Mouse Club to support pupils with the transition from nursery to primary school.
Funded speech and language therapy across HEART primary schools.
Funded Primary Lead Practitioner post to focus on mentoring early career teachers, supporting those in initial teacher training, and helping leadership teams with curriculum development and strategic planning.
Bedford Giving delivers mentoring to 40 students at Bedford Academy to help them to navigate what career path they want to follow.
Provided grant funding to provide counselling for students who are struggling, football and sports sessions, as well as support for adoptive pupils.

OUR ART COMPETITION

Over the past year, the Harpur Trust has delivered a programme of art workshops to 1,080 pupils from schools across the borough, supporting children and young people aged 4 to 16 to prepare for the biennial Harpur Trust Art Competition.

This will result in an exhibition of works from all the 37 schools entered during the summer of 2026 at The Higgins Bedford.

The workshops were designed to support pupils in responding to the competition’s theme, Aspire: Nurturing Your Potential, which encourages young people to reflect on their ambitions, hopes and future aspirations.

Around 30 teachers also took part in CPD art workshops run by The Trust, to provide fresh techniques and creative inspiration to use in the classroom and help prepare for the competition.

Find out more at www.harpur-art-competition.org.uk

BOOKTASTIC CHILDREN’S BOOK FESTIVAL

We have sponsored BookTastic for the last five years, an inspirational literary festival co-created with children from disadvantaged areas.

Pupils attend sessions at the University of Bedfordshire Theatre, where well‑known children’s authors and illustrators deliver fun, engaging, and interactive workshops to a significant number of pupils from lower‑income families, giving many children access to books and authors they might not otherwise experience.

1,250 pupils from 9 primary schools across the borough took part in the festival last year.

All 1,250 children received a free book.

Ways we helped HEART Academies Trust schools over the last year:

Children’s knowledge of books and authors was significantly broadened through attending the BookTastic Festival.
Children reported choosing to read more books in general as a result of their experience at the festival.
Many children were inspired to seek out additional works by the authors they encountered at the event.

The Harpur Trust is a founder member and host of Bedford Giving, a movement set up by eight passionate local businesses, charities and partners, who have all come together with a united goal to help create a brighter future for the next generation in Bedford.

This year, Bedford Giving has:

expanded

2

of its existing programmes.

created

2

amazing new programmes.

And launched a new campaign to help parents to support their children’s mental health needs.

This has done by bringing the community together, with

190

amazing volunteers together contributing 1,782 hours of their time to support Bedford’s young people.

Panels

Bedford Giving participatory panels give local people the chance to shape their communities by awarding grants to projects that address local areas of need.

This year, projects chosen by panel members supported more than 2,600 young people in Bedford.
Thousands more are expected to benefit from 2 further panels we ran this year – one led by parents of children aged 0-5, the other by young people aged 16-18.
Between them, the panels allocated £170,000 to 16 projects targeting a wide range of local issues.

Career Programmes

Our Career Mentoring programme expanded, this year providing inspiration, guidance, and new skills to 90 Year 10 students at 5 local schools.
91% of mentees told us that the programme had helped them in school.
While up to 46% of participants reported making improvements on key workplace skills like confidence and business acumen.
“I feel more confident. I just loved being able to go into detail and get help with how to go into the working world.” (Mentee)

Taste of the Workplace

A brand-new programme

turned work experience on its head by bringing six local employers – bpha, M&J Roofing, Skanska, Anglian Water, Bedfordshire Police, and the NHS – into 2 schools to deliver project-based workplace introductions.

100% of students

said they had improved key skills like speaking, teamwork, and confidence.

The programme also had a huge impact on social media, with one post alone receiving more than

2 million views!

Mental Health

Another new programme launched last year was

Safe Space in a Youth Place.

Responding to research showing that young people struggle to find help with day-to-day mental health challenges, the programme provides mental health training to adults whose daily lives bring them into contact with young people.

Of the 50 participants trained in the first months of the programme,

98%

told us that said they now felt confident talking to young people about their mental health.

Follow The Pink Link campaign and website

helps parents to navigate the tricky challenge of talking to their children about mental health. The website, which features articles about topics like how to start conversations about mental health, so far the webpage has received more than 6000 visitors.

High Quality Education

Offering high quality, distinctive and financially sustainable education

Four exceptional schools providing an unrivalled education to 3,000+ children — from nursery to sixth form — with a commitment to academic excellence, co-curricular breadth and distinctive character.

Bedford Girls School

3/4

of A level & IB grades: A*–B

36

points – IB Diploma average

97%

secured preferred university places

2/3

of GCSEs graded 9–7

Bedford Modern School

28%

of GCSEs graded 9; 49% graded 9–8

Almost

1/2

of A levels: A*–A

77%

of A levels: A*–B

85%

of students represented BMS in sport

Bedford School

Almost

1/2

of A levels/IB: A*/A

3/4

of 1,400+ GCSE papers: 9–7 (record)

86%

secured Russell Group/Times Top 30

Opened

Bedford School Mohali — first international campus

Pilgrims Pre-Prep

Celebrated

25th

anniversary

NDNA

Nursery Awards finalist

Eco-Schools Green Flag reaccreditation

RHS Level One recognition for Gardening Club

Harpur Trust Bursary Scheme

Supporting children to access our schools with high value, impactful bursaries

177

bursaries awarded

75%

of recipients received 75–100% of fees (transformational)

~£3m

total value of bursaries

7.7

average GCSE grade for bursary students