We’ve been collaborating with De Montfort University and Colab Creation to create some exciting new videos that we’ll be sharing with local schools. The Inspire the Possible videos are aiming to encourage young people and their families to explore the possibilities of higher education. We are raising awareness of the support available at universities and colleges for students with additional needs and aiming to inspire young people to pursue their dreams.

Although Pathways works across Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland, this video and advice is available to everyone. It doesn’t matter where you live. If you are at school or college and thinking about higher education. If you have a medical condition, special educational need or a disability. And if you would like to know whether there will be support to help you with your higher education studies and how to access it, then this video will be able to help you.

Here is the link to our YouTube channel where you can watch the trailer. Make sure you subscribe because they’ll be more Inspire the Possible videos coming along shortly.

Last year we worked with Aim Strong Sport to offer free activities during the half-terms for children aged from 12-14. We aimed for the children and young people:

• To eat more healthily over the school holidays.
• To be more active and improve fundamental movement during the school holidays.
• To take part in engaging and enriching activities.
• To be safe and not to be socially isolated.
• To have greater knowledge of health and nutrition.
• To be more engaged with school and other local services.
• To learn tips to improve mental health.
• Improve community cohesion.
• Broaden horizons and explore future aspirations.
• This project was so successful that we’ve now jointly managed it over three times and we’re looking to continue this great partnership and offer more free half-term activities for children and young people.

We’ve been working closely with the City Virtual Schools and have provided activities, campus visits and taster days and De Montfort University and Leicester College for looked after children and young people. These events have been really beneficial and we’re looking to build on that success and deliver some more in the future.

In 2021 we worked with Leicester City Council to create a Young Adult Carers booklet. This holds information for teaching and educational staff. You can find it on our website here and you can download and interactive PDF version of the booklet.

For the past two years we’ve worked with Pedestrian and Soft Touch Arts who have partnered with staff from New College to identify Year 9 and above students specifically those:

• Who have a physical or learning disability (where higher education is an option)
• Are young carers
• Are looked after young people
• Are from disadvantaged areas not being served by university outreach

And aim to engage young people who do not typically look at higher education but are capable and need that additional support to engagement. During the last few years, those most socially and educationally disadvantaged have become more so. The closing of schools and switch to online learning and home schooling has detrimentally affected the education of young people who can least afford it.

The programme will comprise of one intensive week-long visual arts and music residencies in students’ own neighbourhood with four school outreach sessions involving two master classes/ talks from professionals working in relevant fields. The creative sessions will focus on creative activities with discussions on how to develop a career in the creative industries based on local music, visual arts and media degree courses such Music Technology, Fine Art, Design Craft, Music, Technology and Performance, Media Production and Media, Society and Culture. But also share information about other university courses. Young people will spend half of the week working with Pedestrian artists using music technology to create beats, lyrics, recording, etc. Young people will spend the other half of the week working with Soft Touch Arts artists to design accompanying logo, graphics, album cover, animation, etc.

You can read the evaluation reports for previous years by clicking on the following links: 2021 Feel Good Summer Evaluation Report and 2022 Feel Good Summer Evaluation Report.

Last year we were fortunate to work with lots of different organisations across the county and we’re continuing to do the same this year. As part of our evaluation and monitoring last year we asked a young person on our may half term project ‘is there anything else you would like to say about the past week that hasn’t been covered by the previous questions?’  And they answered ‘are you going to do this again.’ We’re starting to explore all the possibilities that are on offer across the county but we’ve noticed a real desire to make a difference and we can see the impact that some of our work is having. And part of our work for this year is continuing to find out what local communities need but also to discover what already works well and support existing work.