2016…what a year!

Lend Me Your Ears!
Alice Lacey, CEO of now data-lazy-srcset=press>play ” width=”300″ height=”225″>
Well. 2016. What a… year.
Whilst it frequently felt like the wheels were coming off the world, it’s been an exciting time at now>press>play HQ as we continue our mission to make education fun, exciting and accessible.
We might be living in a post fact world but let’s go old school for a minute.
In 2016, we:
Ran 12 days of events
Signed up 40 new schools
Kept 54 schools on for a second, third or even fourth year
Ran 75 demos in schools
Worked with 35,000 children
And drank about a million cups of tea!
Tilly, Director of School Engagement & Marketing at now data-lazy-srcset=press>play” width=”225″ height=”300″>
It’s been a year of changes as well as big numbers. We had our first ever now>press>play baby, with Tilly giving birth to Baxter Francis Brooke-Smith at 5.32am on January 28th. He’s already attended his first meeting at NPP HQ and brought some thoughtful gurgles to the table. We look forward to his future insights into our work.
Oscar Wood, co-founder and Head of Learning, Alice Lacey, CEO and co-founder, and Tilly Brooke, Director of School Engagement & Marketing of now data-lazy-srcset=press>play ” width=”225″ height=”300″>
In September, we waved off Oscar, our Head of Learning, and Naqiya, our Head of Impact Evaluation, as they moved to Beirut to do incredible work with Syrian and Palestinian refugees. We’re thrilled that they are still working for us – just from a little bit further away and with slightly less reliable internet connection. To find out more about Seenaryo, the brilliant arts organisation they are working for, including how you can support their work, visit www.seenaryo.org.
Our Experiences team have been beavering away churning out pure audio gold, including our first ever Experiences for Early Years. It has been an absolute joy watching 3 and 4 year olds try now>press>play for the first time – and a massive relief that the headphones (usually!) stay on their heads. Have a listen to a clip of Jack and the Beanstalk here: https://nowpressplay.co.uk/eyfs-experiences/jack-and-the-beanstalk/
A girl wearing now data-lazy-srcset=press>play pink wireless headphones” width=”300″ height=”192″>
So all in all, a pretty good year (leaving the global political apocalypse to one side). I’ll leave the final word to some of the excellent children we’ve worked with in 2016:
“It was really good and I think this was the best moment in school. It was really amazing so thank you!”
“I really like being able to walk around because I can’t sit still for that long and I like being able to imagine.”
“now>press>play is AWESOME. Bring it to our school PLEASE.”
“It is amazing, I would die for it.” (We particularly like that one…)
From all of us at now>press>play, we hope you have a prosperous 2017! We are certainly looking forward to what next year will bring! WATCH THIS SPACE! #pinkheadphones