The Plan
The overarching goal of this project was to continue supporting and inspiring young people in the Ealing Borough by supporting their wellbeing, and in turn, their confidence in school. This has been at the heart of all of our work since the start of the pandemic.
We worked to provide free core lesson support for students aged 5 - 11 in the Ealing Borough, after school and on weekends.
Overall, we wanted to teach children how they can lead happy and healthy lives - and each finds enjoyable ways to do so.
All of our sessions were run by incorporating arts, sports and music, which allows the children to ‘learn through play'. The aim was to ensure that young people in our community are able to access high-quality support, regardless of their income, family background or other factors, and are able to achieve and prosper alongside their peers.
We aim to keep our projects intergenerational, with local young people, with lived experiences, volunteering to mentor and inspire the children whilst receiving guidance from the older generations who have lived or worked in Ealing during their lifetime. Additionally, our in-person sessions do not require the students to have access to any digital devices or materials of their own meaning that everyone is able to integrate easier.
We train local volunteers to help us run our projects - from local teachers and ex-teachers, tutors, recent graduates and local subject enthusiasts, everyone who comes on board to support the offering has a connection to the Ealing community. Whilst they are passionate about the subject they teach, they are also passionate about giving back to the community, and seeing our young people prosper. Furthermore, by interacting with successful local people - these children are given a chance to envisage what their own futures could be, and how they can also succeed.
The Need
Many out-of-school support options are expensive, which means that the families who need this support the most, i.e. low-income families, are unable to access it.
Additionally, we know that children in our community are struggling to bounce back from school closures due to Covid, and as such their confidence has declined and attainment in school is falling behind, and so we decided to run this project as a method of combating this - giving them access to community groups that can support and inspire them; that can nurture hobbies, help maintain active and healthy lifestyles (physically and mentally) and stimulate growth and development.
By running our HAF projects we also noticed that some children are struggling with basic tasks as they have been so isolated over the past year. We found that children were extremely nervous to participate in group activities and were unsure how to communicate their emotions. Provisions like ours, ensure that children can continue to develop
their skill sets whilst also supporting their wellbeing and building their education confidence - so that the gap
does not widen any further, but at the same time, by increasing interaction after
school and on weekends, and increasing their in-school attainment, we are
working to build confidence and mental wellbeing.
When and Where
Our programme, funded by Ealing VCS Community Grants, was open to all children in the borough who would like to join - however, special emphasis is placed on marginalised communities, such as low-income, BAME and high-risk children, such as those at risk of expulsion or identified as in need of extra support by their schools.
Children aged 5 - 11 joined us at our Ealing Broadway location for weekly FREE core sessions on Saturdays. Our sessions covered Maths, English and Science - taught through arts, sports and music!
And alongside this... we ensured to integrate confidence-building elements, as well as workshops in leading happy and healthy lives.
The Benefits
By working to improve the futures of our youth, we are working towards building a strong, more resilient future community.
Simultaneously we are able to support a lot of community members who may be struggling to engage in work or come out of isolation experienced throughout Covid. The offerings will help youth express themselves in ways that make them happier members of this community and will also teach them about various healthy habits that they can implement in their own lives in their own time, and the benefits of maintaining them.
