I am delighted to present the second Annual Report of the Fair Education Alliance.

As CEO of the Mulberry Schools Trust, every day I am privileged to witness the appetite that young people have to fulfil their potential, and the power of education to enable this. An inclusive, well-rounded and high-quality education that provides every child, regardless of their background, the opportunity to thrive is critical for our society. This is not only because of the moral responsibility we have to our children and young people, but because, without access to a great education, the resulting impact is a considerable social and economic future cost to the nation - from crime to unemployment to community cohesion - loss to business, to the economy and to well-being, as well as a waste of talent.

The Fair Education Alliance exists because still, in 2021, we do not have a consistently fair education system in England. We know from hard evidence that before the pandemic, children from the most disadvantaged backgrounds were two years behind their wealthier peers by age 16. This difference in outcomes between rich and poor has been further deepened by Covid lockdown. Between March 2020 and April 2021 during school closures, we saw vividly the reality of hunger, health poverty and lack of home resources for learning experienced by some children in different communities across the country- food shortage and period poverty in some homes; disproportionate numbers of deaths from Covid in over-crowded housing; children attempting to access lessons from mobile phones (sometimes only one between several siblings) and no data or connectivity; exacerbation of the issues at the intersections of class, race and gender. For an affluent nation like the UK, it is unacceptable that poverty and disadvantage still disrupt and undermine the education of children in such ways and make them vulnerable. In summer 2021, the Education Policy Institute recommended that f 13.Sbn was needed for education recovery to address lost learning. As yet, the investment and commitments to date only total one third of the sum required.

Cross-sector, collective action in a strategic and joined-up way is imperative to tackle the scale and depth of the issues. The Fair Education Alliance is unique. It brings together private, public and third sector organisations to achieve systemic change beyond the power and remit of any individual or organisation. It provides a powerful network that unites top-down policy making with bottom-up, grassroots initiatives. It initiates 'place-based' solutions, energetically and strategically using local intelligence and partners to drive change for children with schools at the heart.

The Fair Education Alliance is unapologetically challenging with a 'can-do' attitude. Over the past year, I have been humbled by Alliance members' commitment at a time when they have also faced significant challenges as charities, schools and youth organisations. Despite the impact on their own institutions, our members rose to the challenge - to collaborate, to influence policy and practice, and to support one another to have better impact on the lives of thousands of children across the country. Inequality for children, heightened by the pandemic, is a burning platform we cannot ignore. We must be prepared to invest in significant, long-term action. Funding is one element, but far beyond that, we must leverage the connecting point of the Fair Education Alliance to bring together key players with experience, evidence and passion to make change for their communities and instigate innovative, bold and co-ordinated solutions for system-wide change. Fairness for children and a great start in life through education is possible. Collective cross-sector action will make the difference - we will always achieve more together than we can achieve alone.