MOTIV

An innovative CIC boosting school attendance though celebrity, music and fashion

It’s not always easy for young people to see how going to school will bring them opportunities in the future. But growing up in Manchester, Rose Marley and her partner Lee Stanley witnessed first hand the effects of poor school attendance in their communities.

In response, they created a business model that rewards school attendance by way of “experiences”, such as pop concerts and meeting footballers.

Research shows that 17 missed days a year equate to one drop in a GCSE grade and that the government spends £800m per year on the social fallout from persistent absenteeism. The idea for MOTIV and, more specifically, MOTIV’s primary programme The Attendance College, came in 2005 after the couple had spent years working in the entertainment industry. They were at the point of starting a family, so they no longer wanted to be on tour buses for weeks. Instead, they decided to help young people find a happier future.
After receiving a £5,000 grant from the charity UnLtd, they delivered a successful pilot scheme in Manchester in 2005. “We had a meeting with Manchester Council to roll out MOTIV to 170 schools in the area. No mean feat with our six-week old baby in tow,” says Marley.

The scheme rewards pupils for 100 per cent attendance as well as those who show improvement or effort. In 2008, following the adoption of the scheme in Oldham, full school attendance improved by 54 per cent compared with the previous term.

MOTIV is now an established community interest company, working with 4-16 year olds and supported by a host of organisations, including NME, Hollywood Bowl, the BBC and Channel 4. The government’s aim is to get children into school at least 80 per cent of the time, so there is plenty of support from local authorities and schools, who pay MOTIV for its work.

This year, MOTIV has reached more than 100,000 school pupils in 300 schools. “Our biggest success has been the 15-year-old girl who improved her attendance from 67 to 96 per cent,” says Marley. “It is well documented that sustained results like these are life changing.”

It looks as if even more pupils will benefit in future, as the couple recently won funding to offer MOTIV to schools nationally, starting in Nottingham. Marley originally heard about the CIC model at an UnLtd Level 1 awards event. “We didn’t want to live on handouts as a charity, so when I heard a speaker talk about CICs I became interested,” she says. “I love the idea of having a duty to the community rather than shareholders and the asset lock means that the public sector feels comfortable procuring from us.”

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