'Advancing learning, changing lives' was the theme of an event hosted by the Helena Kennedy Foundation (HKF) on 26 March 2008 and sponsored by its long-standing supporter and advocate, Edexcel.  Friends and partners gathered at the House of Lords to recognise HKF's work in offering second-chance education and to hear from a previous HKF award winner about her experience of returning to education.

Maureen Dempsey, who won a Helena Kennedy Foundation award in 1999, told guests how a two-year access to higher education course at Kensington and Chelsea College, followed by a BA in child development and education at Roehampton University, had changed her life. One of 17 children, she had left school at the age of 16 to work in a factory.  As a single parent, she later struggled financially at college, but with her three children's encouragement, completed her access course.  She is now a social worker for Westminster Social Services, fulfilling her ambition to help children on a professional level.

The charity's president, Baroness Helena Kennedy QC, said, “As an independent charity, we rely entirely on the generosity and commitment of organisations like Edexcel, to whom we are enormously grateful.  Their donations help fund bursaries, mentoring and ongoing practical support schemes.  Students like Maureen succeed against the odds – living proof today that education defeats poverty, that learning inspires us to give something back and offers a route to achieving active citizenship.”

Jerry Jarvis, managing director of Edexcel, said: "We were very pleased to sponsor the Helena Kennedy Foundation's event.  It's great to see that this very important organisation continues to support people in furthering their education and getting on in their lives, because getting the skills and knowledge you need to get on in life is exactly what education should be all about.

"At Edexcel, we've been working with employers to provide accredited programmes to help them boost their people's skills.  That's why we are continuing to develop our BTec vocational qualifications, which help so many second-chance learners boost their skills and their earning power.  Our mission is 'advancing learning, changing lives' – it's a statement that we try to keep in mind in everything we do.  And that's why we're very pleased to support the work of the Helena Kennedy Foundation, and wish it every success."