Ian Comfort

Last updated

Ian Comfort
Education Open University Mathematics, University of Law, Postgraduate Diploma in Law, City, University of London Inns of Court Law School, Postgraduate Diploma in Professional Legal Skills, Plymouth University, Master of Laws, Barrister of the Inner Temple
OccupationLawyer and Educationalist

Ian Comfort is a British educator and lawyer. He began his career as a maths teacher and youth worker. He progressed to become Director of Community Education for the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and then Chief Education Officer for the City of London, where he became actively involved in the Government's Academy programme. He moved from the City in 2006 to become the chief operating officer for Ark Schools [1] a newly created academy trust. In 2008, he was appointed as the first chief executive of the newly formed Edutrust, a Multi-academy Trust chaired by Lord Amir Bhatia, which was renamed as E-ACT in 2010.

Contents

In 2012, Ian Comfort became the Group Secretary and General Counsel of Academies Enterprise Trust, which at that time was the largest Multi-Academy Trust in England with over 36,000 pupils. He took over as CEO in Sept 2013.

In announcing his intention to step down as CEO in 2017, Schools Week reported that during his tenure as group chief executive, the percentage of good or outstanding academies in the trust has increased from less than 26 per cent to 68 per cent, In primary schools, the number of good or outstanding academies has increased from 22 per cent to 84 per cent, with over 8,000 more children now receiving a good education. [2] Research published by the Education Policy Institute in July 2016, confirmed that the trust was in the top 10 per cent of academy trusts nationally for primary education and performing significantly above average in all areas. [3]

In 2017, Ian Comfort was appointed as chair of Sutton Education Services, a company set up by the London Borough of Sutton to manage its education service. The company changed its name to Cognus later in 2017. [4] In 2017, Ian Comfort was appointed to the board of the Middlesex Learning Partnership, a multi- academy trust, and took up the role of chair in 2018. [5] In February 2019, Ian Comfort was appointed to chair the Corporation of Ealing, Hammersmith and West London College. [6]

Ian Comfort was appointed as a justice of the peace in 1984 and is a presiding justice in West London. He qualified as Barrister in 2005 and is called to the bar of the Inner Temple. [7] He chairs a number of tribunals for professional regulation including the Investigating Committee of the Nursing and Midwifery Council, the Health and Care Professions Tribunal, the Medical Practitioners Tribunal and the Taxation Disciplinary Board. In 2019, he was appointed by Her Majesty the Queen as a Commissioner [8] for the Criminal Cases Review Commission.

Charity, Arts and Community

Ian Comfort has been a trustee and chair of the award-winning Ebony Steelband Trust since 2004. [9] In 2005, Ebony Steelband was awarded the Queens Award for Voluntary Service. [10] Ebony Steelband holds the record of being 22 times winner of the UK National Steelband Panorama competition [11] at Notting Hill Carnival. In 2017, Ebony Steelband played at the Grenfell memorial service at St Paul's Cathederal. [12]

Ian Comfort has been a trustee and chair of the Carnival Village Trust since 2008. The Trust is a National Portfolio Organisation [13] for Arts Council England and London's development agency for Carnival Arts. Alongside its regional and national remit to develop Carnival Arts, it is responsible for two venues: the Tabernacle in North Kensington and the Yaa Centre in North Westminster.

In 2018, Carnival Village Trust set up a subsidiary company, Notting Hill Carnival Ltd (NHC), to take over responsibility for managing the world renowned Notting Hill Carnival, and appointed Ian Comfort as chair. In 2019, the Metropolitan Police Commissioner praised the new Carnival organisers for providing a safe and successful event. [14] The Carnival is the largest street festival in Europe and attracts over 2 million people. [15] In May 2020, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and in order to protect the public, NHC took the decision to take Carnival off the streets. [16] With the support of a range of sponsors including Letsgodo, [17] Samsung [18] and Spotify, [19] venues including t he Royal Albert Hall and Abbey Road Studios and funding from the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, the City of Westminster and the Mayor of London all aspects of the Carnival were streamed over the August bank holiday Carnival weekend generating over 7 million views.

Related Research Articles

Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Royal borough in United Kingdom

The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea is an Inner London borough with royal status. It is the smallest borough in London and the second smallest district in England; it is one of the most densely populated administrative regions in the United Kingdom. It includes affluent areas such as Notting Hill, Kensington, South Kensington, Chelsea, and Knightsbridge.

Notting Hill Area of London, England

Notting Hill is a district of West London, England, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Notting Hill is known for being a cosmopolitan and multicultural neighbourhood, hosting the annual Notting Hill Carnival and Portobello Road Market. From around 1870, Notting Hill had an association with artists.

Notting Hill Carnival Annual street festival in London

The Notting Hill Carnival is an annual Caribbean festival event that has taken place in London since 1966 on the streets of the Notting Hill area of Kensington, each August over two days.

Ladbroke Grove Human settlement in England

Ladbroke Grove is an area and a road in West London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, running north–south between Harrow Road and Holland Park Avenue.

Greg Hands British Conservative politician

Gregory William Hands is a British Conservative Party politician serving as Minister of State for Business, Energy and Clean Growth since 2021 and as Member of Parliament (MP) for Chelsea and Fulham, previously Hammersmith and Fulham, since 2005. Hands was a minister of state for trade policy, from 2016 to 2018 and again from February 2020 to September 2021.

Kensington (UK Parliament constituency) British parliamentary constituency

Kensington is a constituency in Greater London which first existed between 1974 and 1997 and was recreated in 2010. Since 2019, it has been represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament by Felicity Buchan of the Conservative Party.

North Kensington Neighbourhood of west London

North Kensington is an area of west London. It is north of Notting Hill and south of Kensal Green and in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. The names North Kensington and Ladbroke Grove describe the same area. Despite its namesake, it is not actually part of the larger district of Kensington from which it is separated by Notting Hill town centre.

Sterling Betancourt Musical artist

Sterling Betancourt MBE, FRSA is a Trinidad-born pioneer, arranger and musician on the steelpan, a major figure in pioneering the Pan in Europe and the UK (1951).

Russell Audley Ferdinand "Russ" Henderson was a jazz musician on the piano and the steelpan. Originally from Trinidad and Tobago, he settled in England in the 1950s. He is most widely recognised as one of the founding figures of the Notting Hill Carnival in London, United Kingdom.

The Tabernacle, Notting Hill

The Tabernacle is a Grade II-listed building in Powis Square, Notting Hill, west London, England, built in 1887 as a church. The building boasts a curved Romanesque façade of red brick and terracotta, and towers with broach spires on either side. Today the Tabernacle serves as a cultural arts and entertainment venue, including a theatre, meeting rooms, music studio, art gallery, bar and kitchen, conservatory and a garden courtyard.

The UK National Panorama Competition, a Saturday evening event that immediately precedes the Notting Hill Carnival, is a major showcase for Trinidad and Tobago Steel Pan, or, music. Held at Emslie Horniman's Pleasance park in the London Borough of Kensington and Chelsea it typically involves approximately 1,000 performers, and attracts almost 5,000 spectators. Steel Bands from around the UK prepare a music performance, arranged to last for up to 10 minutes, and compete for the Panorama Championship.

Rhaune Laslett British activist

Rhaune Laslett was a community activist and the principal organiser of the Notting Hill Fayre or Festival, that evolved into the Notting Hill Carnival.

Powis Square, London

Powis Square is a garden square and locality in Notting Hill, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in London, England. The closest London Underground station to the square is Westbourne Park tube station.

Emslie Hornimans Pleasance

Emslie Horniman's Pleasance is a park in the Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in London. Named after the London County Councillor Emslie John Horniman who created it, and opened in 1914. It is the traditional starting point for the Notting Hill Carnival.

Selwyn Baptiste was a Trinidad and Tobago-born pioneer of the introduction of the steel drum into Britain, forming the country's second steel band in 1967, and early organizer of London's Notting Hill Carnival. An educator as well as a pannist, a percussionist and drummer, he is credited with bringing about the teaching of steelpan playing throughout the UK.

Kensington Aldridge Academy Academy in London, England

Kensington Aldridge Academy (KAA) is an 11–18 co-educational secondary school with academy status in the North Kensington area of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, in London, England. KAA opened in September 2014, and was officially opened by Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge in January 2015. The Academy's sixth form opened in September 2016. The school specialisms are Entrepreneurship and Creative & Performing Arts.

Leslie Stephen "Teacher" Palmer,, is a Trinidadian community activist, writer and teacher, who migrated in the 1960s to the UK, where he became involved in music and the arts in West London. He is credited with developing a successful template for the Notting Hill Carnival, of which he was director from 1973 to 1975, during which time he "completely revolutionised the event and transformed its structure and content almost beyond recognition." He is also known by the name of "The Wounded Soldier" as a kaisonian.

Ansel Keith David Wong is a Trinidadian-born cultural and political activist, who has been influential in many organisations particularly in the black community in the United Kingdom, where he has been based since the 1960s. He is the former Chair of the Notting Hill Carnival Board and founder of Elimu Mas Band. He is also an educationist and academic, and in a wide-ranging career has worked at senior levels in various organisations in the public and charitable sectors, including with the Windrush Foundation established in 1996 by Arthur Torrington.

Notting Hill Genesis

Notting Hill Genesis (NHG) is a housing association formed in April 2018 by the merger of Notting Hill Housing and Genesis Housing Association. Notting Hill Genesis’ primary purpose is to work in the community to provide decent and affordable homes for lower-income households.

The Pepper Pot Centre (PPC), also known as the Pepperpot Club, is a British charity based in Ladbroke Grove, West London, that for four decades has been supporting elderly people from the African, Caribbean and BME communities in the London Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, offering a meal service as well as information and advice on social and health issues and benefits. The Pepper Pot was founded in 1981 by Pansy Jeffrey, a community activist from the Windrush generation, with the original aim of providing "a culturally sensitive drop-in centre for recently retired, redundant or disabled members of the elderly African Caribbean community". The Pepper Pot Centre was visited by The Queen on its opening in Ladbroke Grove in 1981. and again on its 25th anniversary, in 2005. In October 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the centre was visited by Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, who witnessed how "this hub for older people has continued to support vulnerable members of the community throughout lockdown".

References

  1. ↑ "Ian Comfort: Group CEO". Academies Enterprise Trust. Academies Enterprise Trust. Retrieved 17 December 2015.
  2. ↑ Camden, Billy (4 November 2016). "Boss of country's largest academy trust steps down". Schools Week.
  3. ↑ Andrews, John (July 2016). "School performance in multi-academy trusts and local authorities" (PDF). Education Policy Institute.
  4. ↑ Burley, Tracey (20 September 2017). "London Borough of Sutton Shareholders Board" (PDF). London Borough of Sutton. Retrieved 28 February 2018.
  5. ↑ "Middlesex Learning Partnership".
  6. ↑ "Corporation – Ealing Hammersmith and West London College". www.wlc.ac.uk. Retrieved 3 May 2020.
  7. ↑ "Legal Expert Directory (incl. Official Bar Directory)". Juriosity. Retrieved 12 September 2020.
  8. ↑ "Six new Commissioners appointed to Criminal Cases Review Commission | Criminal Cases Review Commission" . Retrieved 12 September 2020.
  9. ↑ "EBONY STEELBAND TRUST – Officers (free information from Companies House)". beta.companieshouse.gov.uk. Retrieved 12 September 2020.
  10. ↑ "Queen's Award for Voluntary Service 2005: 6 Jun 2005: Hansard Written Answers". TheyWorkForYou. Retrieved 12 September 2020.
  11. ↑ "UK NATIONAL STEELBAND PANORAMA 2019 ROUNDUP – EBONY STEELBAND TRUST". Panpodium. Retrieved 12 September 2020.
  12. ↑ "Ebony Steel Band play at Grenfell Memorial". BBC News. Retrieved 12 September 2020.
  13. ↑ "National Portfolio Organisations | Arts Council England". www.artscouncil.org.uk. Retrieved 12 September 2020.
  14. ↑ "Met chief's praise for police and organisers as Carnival crime falls". Evening Standard. 28 August 2019. Retrieved 12 September 2020.
  15. ↑ "Notting Hill Carnival: What is it? - CBBC Newsround" . Retrieved 12 September 2020.
  16. ↑ "Notting Hill Carnival 2020 cancelled | Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea". www.rbkc.gov.uk. Retrieved 12 September 2020.
  17. ↑ "How to watch this year's virtual Notting Hill Carnival". Evening Standard. 28 August 2020. Retrieved 12 September 2020.
  18. ↑ "Carnival Arrives at Piccadilly Circus – Live Countdown on the Big Screen". news.samsung.com. Retrieved 12 September 2020.
  19. ↑ "Spotify's Virtual Notting Hill Carnival Microsite Amplifies Black Creators Like Never Before". Spotify. 19 August 2020. Retrieved 12 September 2020.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.