Steve Sinnott

The Foundation carries the name of Steve Sinnott, General Secretary of the National Union of Teachers in England and Wales until his tragic death, in April 2008, at the age of 56.

In both his professional and his private life, Steve was a passionate believer in the Millennium Development Goals, in particular Millennium Development Goal 2, the goal for education to ensure that, by 2015, children everywhere, boys and girls alike, will be able to complete a full course of primary schooling. It’s a goal for some 70 million of the world’s children.

Steve worked hard to promote MDG2 in his work with teachers' organisations worldwide. The respect given to Steve's name now provides the Foundation

with opportunities to reach, and to help unite, millions of teachers, educators, charity workers, political leaders and others who are committed to the Goal.

Steve's values continue to provide the impetus for the work of the Foundation. He was a great believer in the power of people in their communities, unified in a cause, to achieve change for the better. He campaigned for election to the post of General Secretary of the National Union of Teachers in England and Wales under the slogan "Working Together, Winning Together". He delighted in leading NUT Annual Conferences in singing Canned Heat's "Let's Work Together" with its lyric:

Together we stand

Divided we fall

Come on now, people

Let's get on the ball

And work together

In February 2007, Steve delivered the prestigious Hugh Gaitskell Memorial Lecture at Nottingham University. A passage from that speech has been often quoted in tributes to him. It sums up his optimism, and his deeply held conviction in the power of education. He often called it "the great liberator"

"I think there are those who are hopeful supporters and activists for justice, human rights and equality; and there is the rest. Those who exude hope and optimism generate the energy and stimulate the progress that we in education and progressive teacher trade unionism, for example, work for. I find such people are as fascinated as I think I am by the liberating power of education in this country and across the world."