English-Speaking Union

The English-Speaking Union (ESU) is an international educational charity which was founded by the journalist Sir Evelyn Wrench in 1918 that aims to bring together and empower people of different languages and cultures, by building skills and confidence in communication, such that individuals realise their potential.[1] With 35 branches in the United Kingdom and over 50 international ESUs in countries around the world, the ESU carries out a variety of activities such as debating, public speaking and student exchange programmes, runs conferences and seminars, and offers scholarships, to encourage the effective use of the English language around the globe.

English-Speaking Union
AbbreviationESU
Formation1918
TypeEducational charity
HeadquartersDartmouth House
Location
  • London
Region served
International
Official language
English
Chairman
Paul Boateng, Baron Boateng
Websitewww.esu.org

The Aims of the English-Speaking Union (as stated on its website) are as follows:

  1. The mutual advancement of education of the English-speaking world, respecting the traditions and heritage of those with whom we work whilst acknowledging the current events and issues that affect them.
  2. The use of English as a shared language and means of international communication of knowledge and understanding, provided always that these are at all times pursued in a non-political and non-sectarian manner.

These aims are taken from the ESU's Royal Charter.

Governance

The ESU was established in 1918 through the efforts of Sir Evelyn Wrench. In 1957 it received a Royal Charter, with Queen Elizabeth II as the royal patron. Princess Anne, The Princess Royal, has been president since 2013, having taken over from her father Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh who served from 1952 to 2012. Headquartered at Dartmouth House, Mayfair, London, its many activities are coordinated by the Director-General. The sixteen-member Board of Governors meets four times a year, and is presided over by the Chair.[2][3]

Directors-general

Chairs

Oracy

The ESU believes oracy – speaking and listening skills – should be at the centre of the school curriculum, and actively encourages the development of these skills through education and competition.

The ESU's education department runs the John Smith Memorial Mace for university students (named after the former Labour party leader John Smith who was a member of the winning team of the competition in 1962), and The ESU Schools Mace, the oldest and largest debating competition for schools in England. Several alumni have gone on to be part of Team England or Team Wales (both funded and managed by the ESU) at the annual World Schools Debating Championships – a two-week tournament whose recent venues include Peru, Cape Town, Turkey and Thailand.

Speech-led competitions include Performing Shakespeare (a national contest for secondary school students), the ESU National Public Speaking Competition for Schools and the International Public Speaking Competition, which reaches over 600,000 young people in more than 50 countries every year. National winners meet in London for the final, part of a five-day programme of events including public speaking, debating and performance workshops, and cultural excursions.

Alongside these competitions, the ESU also runs games-led debate and public speaking workshops in schools, guides schools on setting up and maintaining their own debate clubs, and provides a range of Continued Professional Development (CPD) opportunities for teachers in the fields of speech and debate.

Secondary School Exchange Programme

British students, having completed their A-Levels, can spend two or three terms at a private prep school in the United States or Canada during their gap year. In return American students come to British schools. Originally known as the British and American Schoolboy and Schoolgirl Exchange, the programme was created in 1928. Former British ESU student exchange scholars include:

American ESU student exchange scholars include:

The US–UK Debate Tour Exchange

Two outstanding British student debaters are chosen each year to tour approximately 30 states over three months. The ESU USA Tour is one of the most prestigious awards in University debating. In return two American debaters visit universities and institutions in the UK. The programme was established in 1922. Alumni of the British team include:

as well as a significant number of MPs, QCs and other notable figures.

International ESUs
The New York headquarters

The ESU's International Headquarters is located in London, and there are over 50 national ESUs around the world.

Australia

Charles Duguid, Scottish medical practitioner and Aboriginal rights activist, helped to found the Australian branch of the ESU in Adelaide, South Australia, and was Chairman from 1932–1935.[10][11][12]

Music scholarships

The ESU offers funding for places at top conservatoires for music students. Alumni include Tasmin Little and Nigel Kennedy, both violinists.

Lindemann Trust Fellowship

The Lindemann Trust Fellowships are a prestigious research grant awarded to postdoctoral scientists of "exceptional promise" in the pure and applied physical sciences,[13] designed to enable British and Commonwealth citizens resident in the UK to perform research in the USA. They have been administered by the ESU since 1972 and were established as a result of a bequest from Brigadier Charles Lindemann.[13] Brigadier Lindemann trained as a physicist with his brother, Lord Cherwell, at the University of Berlin,[14] after which he served as scientific advisor of the British Army[15] and subsequently at the British Embassy in Washington during the Second World War.[14] The Lindemann Fellowships were created as a result of his will, where Brigadier Lindemann directed that his residual estate "be used to assist men and women with outstanding potential to become distinguished scholars or teachers in their chosen field".[16]

Fellowships are awarded following a rigorous application process, undertaken by a committee, chaired by Professor James Raven, Deputy Chairman of the ESU, which represents the full range of scientific fields eligible for a fellowship. In 2017 the panel comprised: Professor Dirk Aarts – Christ Church; Professor Paul Beer – Wadham College; Professor Ben Berks – Wadham College; Professor Roger Davies – Christ Church; Dr Martin Grossel – Southampton; Dr Karen Mooney-McAuley – Queens University Belfast; Professor Sir David Read – Royal Society and Professor Mary Rees – Liverpool University.

See also

Notes
  1. Archived 7 March 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  2. "What is the ESU? – Governance" The English Speaking Union Archived 9 June 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  3. "Governors". www.esu.org. The English-Speaking Union. Retrieved 25 November 2018.
  4. ‘DARVALL, Frank Ongley’, Who Was Who, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 1920–2007; online edn, Oxford University Press, Dec 2007 accessed 4 Feb 2014
  5. Janus: British Diplomatic Oral History Programme. Janus.lib.cam.ac.uk (1 November 1923). Retrieved on 5 November 2013.
  6. Former Director-General of Help the Aged to lead the English-Speaking Union. Perrettlaver.com. Retrieved on 5 November 2013.
  7. ::: Welcome to ESU Canada ::: Archived 25 April 2012 at the Wayback Machine. Esu.ca. Retrieved on 5 November 2013.
  8. Letts, By Quentin. "We should send our best young people to the East". Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 17 January 2017.
  9. Culford School Alumni Magazine (2017). "News Bites". FOCuS Magazine. 15: 10.
  10. "Provenance: AA 79 – Dr Charles Duguid". South Australian Museum. Retrieved 2 July 2019.
  11. "English Speaking Union". The Advertiser (Adelaide). South Australia. 9 October 1935. p. 10. Retrieved 2 July 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
  12. "The 84th Anisfield-Wolf Book awards: Charles Duguid – Doctor and the Aborigines (1974 Non-fiction)". Anisfield-Wolf. Retrieved 2 July 2019.
  13. "The English-Speaking Union". www.esu.org. Archived from the original on 22 November 2015. Retrieved 2015-11-05.
  14. Reed Business Information (27 January 1972). New Scientist. Reed Business Information. pp. 217–. ISSN 0262-4079.
  15. Donald Avery (1998). The Science of War: Canadian Scientists and Allied Military Technology During the Second World War. University of Toronto Press. pp. 276–. ISBN 978-0-8020-5996-3.
  16. http://www.esu.org/__data/assets/pdf_file/0006/37662/Lindemann-Notes-for-Applicants-2016.pdf%5B%5D

Further reading
  • Bridge Over Troubled Water: An insight into the English-Speaking Union and its influence in South Asia - Michael Wynne-Parker (pub. Kingston Books, 1989)
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