 Mike Emery UK Atlantic College Strategic Partnerships Manager | Without UWC, I might have gone into the family business after school, but instead I founded World at Play |
Mike Emery (AC 98-00) founded World at Play, an organisation which runs sports-based expeditions to help disadvantaged children learn confidence and new skills through play. He is now Strategic Partnerships Manager for the UK office of the organisation Right to Play.
“It’s difficult to say how UWC affects your life when you’re 16,” says Mike. “But I think it’s safe to say that the experience definitely broadens your horizons, and the amazing network of students and graduates inspires you to change the world. Without UWC, I might have gone into the family business after school, but instead I founded World at Play.”
World at Play had its origins in Mike’s experience working for Atlantic College’s Extra Mural Centre, which opens up the facilities of the College to disadvantaged young people throughout the UK.
“I was using sport for development at the Extra Mural Centre,” explains Mike, “and that inspired me to think about the further possibilities of play. Play, although a fairly basic concept, is fundamental to a child’s development – but it is often forgotten in countries that have witnessed economic hardship and other social problems.”
With the help of fellow Atlantic College graduates and staff, the idea was born for an organisation that would run philanthropic humanitarian expeditions to bring play to the children who really needed it. World at Play’s first 3-month expedition took place in late 2004, bringing play to more than 2,000 children in Croatia, Bosnia, Romania, Bulgaria and Turkey.
“It was an incredible experience, and the expedition was the result of a great deal of hard work, sweat and tears,” says Mike, “ but it was a great success. So much so, in fact, that we were able to run another expedition in late 2006, this time taking in eight countries in 85 days and reaching more than 6,000 children.”
In his spare time, Mike has managed to fit in a BA in English and American Literature, as well as a Masters in International Communications and Development, and is now putting his World at Play experience to good use in his work with Right to Play, and American-based organisation with similar aims that has just opened a UK office.
“I’m working as Strategic Partnerships Manager at Right to Play,” says Mike, “which means I liaise with government, businesses, and other charities to form productive partnerships. Right to Play currently works with 500,000 children worldwide and aims to be working with 5 million by 2012, including children in the Middle East, Africa and Asia. It’s a very rewarding place to be.”