HELPING YOU TO EMPOWER THE LEADERS OF TOMORROW

TAKING THE STRESS OUT OF YOUR PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT PLANS

Working in higher education comes with ever changing goal posts and plenty of plates to spin. Are you finding that:

  • You worry whether students have the personal skills needed for academic success and future employment?

  • Student stress and wellbeing challenges get in the way of them meeting their potential?

  • You are overwhelmed trying to offer extra curricular opportunities to plug gaps?

  • You are fed up of investing time and money in skills development activities that your students don’t actually implement?

If this sounds like you, then maybe you are ready for a change.

LET ME LIGHTEN YOUR LOAD

I can help you if you want to:

  • Give your students a rich, well rounded higher education experience

  • Create confident young leaders to make positive changes in the world

  • And gain some time back for your other roles and personal wellbeing

I work with higher education organisations to create confident, resilient and emotionally intelligent leaders through immersive and engaging personal development training.

BESPOKE TO YOUR NEEDS

Sometimes ‘off the shelf’ training workshops can feel like a sticking plaster – they tick the box, but your students don’t actually learn the skills they need to succeed.

I work with you and your students in a bespoke way to make sure that real learning takes place.

I take away your headaches by providing an expertly crafted start to finish training experience:

  • drawing out your needs and learning objectives

  • designing the progression over a programme

  • planning interactive skill building activities

  • creating psychologically safe training spaces

  • scaffolding your students’ learning

  • providing feedback on their skills development

  • coaching students to apply their skills

  • supporting their self-reflection for ongoing development

BOOK A TRAINING CONSULT

PICTURE THE SCENE

Your students develop a range of leadership, communication, teamworking and wellbeing skills.

→ They feel more confident in themselves.

→ They are more open to volunteer and leadership roles at uni – driving engagement.

→ Your students are more resilient and better able to manage themselves – leading to more effective studying.

→ They reach their full potential in their academic studies.

→ Having well developed soft skills alongside their degree makes them more employable.

→ Your students become tomorrow’s leaders in business, politics and their community – making the world a better place.

SERVICES

You may be looking for training to develop:

STUDENT UNIONS

  • Student officers and part time officers

  • Staff supporting student campaigners

  • Course reps

  • Society leaders

  • Activists and campaign groups

HIGHER EDUCATION PROVIDERS

  • “I worked with Gemma through sourcing her specialist training services. Gemma delivered a really engaging session on Facilitation and Coaching for my Student Peer Trainers. Her methods of training delivery were exceptional and she had a really good connection with the students because I believe Gemma knows how to connect with students within HE. My students came away from the session with nothing but praise about Gemma's session and they felt equipped with the skills and knowledge they needed to be effective Student Peer Trainers.”

    Douglas Muzawazi

    Skills & Development Manager, SHU

  • “Gemma offered an accessible and impactful session on Project Management. The content was delivered with students in mind, with much of the workshop tailored around personal projects. Students (and myself) left the session with a set of tools to tackle emerging problems, mitigate and identify risk and understand how to evaluate our successes. Would recommend highly.”

    Tyler Austin

    Employability & Micro-Placement Programme Coordinator, City University London students union

  • “Gemma has delivered both individual and team coaching sessions with our elected officers. It's been wonderful to see them grow as a result of each coaching session they have had. They've learnt both self-reflection, as well as lots of tangible tools they use day-to-day. I've seen their confidence and advocacy skills grow as a result, as well as their ability to handle conflict and difficult conversations.”

    Rebecca Turton

    CEO, Brookes Union

HOW DOES IT WORK?

  1. You book in a free 30 minute consultation to discuss your training needs.

  2. We explore all of the logistics: aims, objectives, group size, programme length, location, cost etc

  3. I come back to you within 10 days with your bespoke programme proposal.

  4. If you are ready to proceed, we book the date and agree the invoicing process.

  5. You provide a venue and recruit your students.

  6. I travel to your site deliver my signature blend of training, facilitation and coaching.

  7. I provide your students with interactive learning experiences, skills practice and ongoing feedback.

  8. I give your students all resource sheets to help them continue their learning.

  9. Your students evaluate their programme and I provide you with a summary report.

  10. We debrief the programme, any recommendations and next steps.

BOOK YOUR CONSULT

MY FLAVOUR OF TRAINING

I’m passionate about delivering excellent education, which is why you can always expect three things from me:

1) A holistic approach to content. Knowledge is always contextual which is why I bring together tools from 6 core areas: leadership, teamworking, conflict resolution, communication and public speaking, organisational skills and student wellbeing.

2) A blended delivery style. I always use a mixture of training, coaching and facilitation to ensure that students are active and engaged learners.

3) An effective learning process. I implement a 5 step cycle to ensure that students are able to actually bridge the gap between knowing and doing.

Want to learn more?

DELIVERY STYLE
LEARNING PROCESS

MEET YOUR TRAINER

I’m Gemma and I absolutely love inspiring and empowering students to become the best versions of themselves.

As a teenager in 2006 I stumbled across a leadership training programme that changed my life. I was given the opportunity to learn the kinds of skills ‘they don’t teach you in school’ like being assertive, setting my own goals, managing teams, resolving conflicts and looking after my whole self in the process. 

I am eternally grateful to have had that opportunity but equally frustrated that more people make it into adulthood without being fully equipped to handle life’s challenges. That’s why my mission is to equip young people with soft skills to help them become the confident, resilient and emotionally intelligent leaders that the world needs. 

TRUSTED BY

  • Brookes Union
  • Union of Brunel Students
  • Cambridge Student Union
  • Change Lab Sheffield
  • City Students' Union
  • Hallam Students' Union
  • Heriot-Watt University Student Union
  • Hull University Students' Union
  • Keele Students' Union
  • Leeds Arts University
  • Leicester Students' Union
  • Lincoln Students' Union
  • Loughborough Students' Union
  • Middlesex Students' Union
  • Newman Students' Union
  • Northampton Students' Union
  • Northeastern University London
  • Northumbria Students' Union
  • Oxford Students' Union
  • Sheffield Students' Union
  • SU Digital
  • University of East Anglia Students' Union
  • Union of Kingston Students
  • The University of Sheffield
  • York University Students' Union
  • Students' Union University of Manchester

Frequently Asked Questions

  • I deliver my training at your site in order to be convenient to your staff and students. During the consultation call we’ll discuss the group size and types of activity so that you can book a suitable room for us to work in.

  • I am happy to discuss training across all national and international locations (I’ve delivered programmes in Switzerland, Bahrain and India).

    I am based in Sheffield and prefer to travel by public transport if feasible. Let me know where you are based and I will let you know if I need to add any travel or accommodation costs to the booking.
    The distance of travel will depend on how long a training session you are requesting (sorry no one hour workshops half way across the country, unless you want to pay a pretty penny)

  • I generally provide online training for two reasons:

    • Your students are remote and joining from multiple locations.

    • Your budget doesn’t allow for the travel and venue costs of in-person training.

    I treat all online training as if it were in-person training. Your students will NOT be receiving a webinar that they just listen in to. I plan interactive sessions with breakout rooms, whiteboards, quizzes and even a bit of movement to keep them engaged throughout.

    I provide you with a zoom link to share with your students. We work in a cameras on environment (as far as possible) and the sessions are not recorded as this helps people to open up and engage.

  • Most organisations want to run their training within working hours so that staff can open rooms and students are on campus. However, students' timetables are busy and you may wish you book training outside of their study hours (Wednesday afternoons are very popular).
    Generally I work on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, but with enough notice we can discuss evening or weekend training if that better meets your needs.

  • Ideally, we would have at least a months’ notice for any training booking so that I have time to design your programme and that you can recruit students before the start date.

    For busier periods such as summer induction training or pre-exam wellbeing programmes you may want to book 2-3 months in advance to secure your preferred dates.

    Training is booked on a first come first served basis.

  • Start off by booking in your free training consultation call. Gemma will create a bespoke training plan based on your needs. Then you can set a training date and book it into the diary. 

  • Each training programme is individually costed depending on the delivery time and any travel requirements. As a guide, training is charged at a rate of £450 per half day (3h) and £900 per full day (6h). A full day will usually be 7h long as it includes a lunch break that is not charged.

    All costs are inclusive of VAT and materials.

  • At the point of booking I will discuss your organisation’s processing needs – some organisations need to add me as a supplier and do checks, others find purchase order numbers and some just work from a single invoice.

    I aim to raise my invoice 4 weeks before the training delivery date so that the payment is processed by the time the first training date has been delivered.

    For longer programmes of training across a number of weeks we can discuss breaking the invoice into a payment plan if this suits your needs.

  • Feel free to drop me an email or book in a meeting to ask away. It may be that what you need didn’t make it into my list of most popular topics for the website.
    When people ask for training that I simply don’t offer, I tell them honestly (no democracy reviews and no conflict management for club night security staff).

  • Absolutely. As part of the bespoke training consultation I will find out what training you already do in house so that I can build on your content, identify any gaps and design a training programme that perfectly complements your in-house team.

  • Yes. Staff benefit just as much as students from the skills that I develop; leadership, teamworking, organisation, public speaking, conflict resolution and wellbeing. 

    I can deliver mixed programmes where students and staff learn together or separate programmes for staff. Book in a consultation to discuss your needs.