Common Purpose United Kingdom | Company information | Participants/Alumni
Frontrunner helps university-age people, who have a track record of leading change, to set their sights even higher as they look ahead beyond full-time education. Participants visit a wide range of organisations and quiz leaders from many different walks of life. This gives future generations of leaders a rare opportunity to broaden their knowledge, plan their future and develop their leadership skills.
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"The Frontrunner programme plays an essential part in developing the leaders of tomorrow. The course not only exposes young people to some of the best leaders currently operating in the UK but also offers a unique opportunity for the participants to learn from each other and form life long bonds that will undoubtedly assist the development of our society in the years to come. I have had the privilege of supporting the Frontrunner course for the last 4 years and I look forward to continuing my support over the years to come."
Aaron Ross, Co-founder and Managing Director, First Care
Deadline extended! Due to high interest, the Frontrunner deadline has been extended to 15 August 2010.
Frontrunner is designed for people over the age of 18 who have demonstrated their capacity to lead. Participants are either in full-time education and training or are in the very early stages of their career with no more than one year of experience. The course attracts people from across the UK who have different backgrounds, interests and experience.
As with all our open courses, the participant group on Frontrunner will be diverse in terms of background, experience, sector, outlook and approach. Participants share and challenge each other and discover that this diversity - far from being a weakness - provides a key strength of the course.
On the course, participants visit businesses, campaigning organisations and civic institutions. They challenge leaders from prisons, newspapers, hospitals, production plants, political parties, faiths and many more. They plough through case studies, present their findings and distill the learning. They work together on leadership dilemmas and challenge each others' biases. They determinedly learn, share, connect, argue and squeeze every ounce of learning out of Frontrunner. After the course, participants tend to stay in touch and keep the Frontrunner experience going.
Of participants on previous courses:
Frontrunner is a four-day residential course run in London.
On the course, participants will go on visits to businesses, institutions and organisations to get a behind-the-scenes perspective on an organisation and sector. They will also deal with real-life leadership dilemmas and learn from the experiences of leaders from all sectors of society. Participants will be challenged personally through diversity exercises and being part of a learning group with whom they'll share, connect and be held accountable throughout the process.
Learn more about the Common Purpose learning methods.
The course is currently run at University College London.
Participants on Frontrunner are sponsored by organisations, either through nomination within an organisation or by participants seeking out the organisation sponsorship.
Places are available for participants seeking to apply without the support of an organisation. These are subsidised by Common Purpose.
Please note, all applications are reviewed by an external advisory group and payment will only be taken should your application be successful.
As ever, bursary places are available.
The Frontrunner Advisory Group will review all applications and take into account:
The deadline to apply has been extended to 15 August 2010. To apply, complete the online application at right. You can also download the Application form and Equal Opportunities form and send both by post or fax to the Common Purpose London Office.
For more about the overall application process, please visit the application page.
"Of all the courses I have been on, this was definitely the most stimulating, and came at a time in my life where I think it will have a genuine and permanent impact. It allowed a group of openminded young people with very different backgrounds to come together and openly discuss their ideas and achievements, and therefore to learn from and inspire one another."
Nicola Storey, Frontrunner participant, 2008
"Frontrunner made me realise that I actually had a lot more power than I thought I did, it was just up to me to make the most of it."
Joey Powis, Frontrunner participant, 2008
"As a second year sabbatical, Common Purpose was thoroughly refreshing and the different perspectives the course explored revived my interest in making and facilitating change. I would 110% recommend attending Common Purpose Frontrunner!"
Katy Ritchie, Frontrunner participant, 2007
"We had a great time hosting a visit for the Frontrunner group who were really engaged and lively. Thank you so much for giving us the opportunity to host this lunch and thank you to the group for being so interested, interesting and delightful."
Sally Gimson, Family & Parenting Institute, Contributor
"I was incredibly impressed by the energy and insightfulness of all the participants. They suggested all sorts of great ideas about how we could better engage with the student 'market'"
Jamie Wallace, Director, Walk-it.com Ltd., Contributor
