Islington - 20th February 2012 - Cherie Blair and Shami Chakrabarti will be amongst a select group of eminent professionals speaking at the Dialogue Society Success School, which aims to inspire and encourage 16 – 21 year olds in Islington.

The seven week course, which will run from February to April, will help participants overcome psychological barriers to success by inviting role model guests to share their stories and narrate the challenges and failures they encountered along their journey to success. Performance coaches and self-help authors will also help equip participants with the know-how to become successful, advising on practical skills and techniques.

Cherie Blair, familiar to the British public as the wife of the former Prime Minister Tony Blair, is a highly successful barrister and was the first member of her family to go to university. She will share her story with the young audience, revealing the ups and downs she faced along the way.

The founder of the Big Issue, John Bird will also be sharing his extraordinary life story including spells as a thief, prison inmate, artist and road sweeper. Since John founded the Big Issue it has sold 50 million copies and given 15,000 homeless people the tools to help themselves.

Ozcan Keles, Director at the Dialogue Society said:

“We have extremely talented and gifted British youth who need a little support to help them realize and achieve their potential. The unfortunate civil unrest Britain experienced last August provided concrete proof that some of our youth have lost direction, and we would like to facilitate a platform to help gear their energy towards more rewarding ambitions. We’re extremely privileged to have such inspirational people to come and speak to those who can really benefit from the advice and support.”

The Dialogue Society Success School will include the following guest speakers: Robert Kelsey, Author of ‘What’s Stopping You?’, Cherie Blair (Cherie Booth QC), Barrister, Rear Admiral Amjad Hussain, John Bird, Social Entrepreneur (founder of The Big Issue), Shami Chakrabarti, Director of Liberty and Serena Bradshaw, Performance Coach. The Dialogue Society Success School will conclude with a bonus Session at Arsenal FC.

-ENDS-

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Notes to editors

The Dialogue Society is a registered charity, established in London in 1999, with the aim of advancing social cohesion by connecting communities through dialogue. It does this by bringing people together through discussion forums, courses, capacity building publications and outreach. It operates nation-wide with nine regional branches across the UK. The Dialogue Society aims to facilitate dialogue on a whole range of social issues. It stands for democracy, human rights, the non-instrumentalisation of religion in politics, equality and freedom of speech.

For more information see www.dialoguesociety.org