REKINDLE is a supplementary school for young people aged 13-16 in South Manchester. The school will focus on providing the pastoral care, community support and critical thinking needed to safeguard young people and ensure they have the confidence and networks to soar. It will work with students who have not been given the opportunity to fall in love with education in their mainstream schools.

Our primary focus is to design an approach that offers care, support, connection, hope and aspiration. That pushes disadvantaged young people to believe they can be more, but first establishes the solid foundations to catch them when they fall (and they will, often). An approach that helps parents who struggled themselves with schooling find a way back in through the gates, into a space they now feel comfortable and valued.

An approach that first cares about what young people care about, where adults act as mentors and provide space for safe conversations that calm the raging fears of teenage minds. An approach that is eminently practical. What do young people without resources from struggling homes need? They need food. Good free food. Every night.

There is so much more to Rekindle. This is not a project that has been created because there is the possibility of funding available; this is a love affair with young people who deserve better from their education. It’s an attempt to switch the school lights back on and lure them into loving literature, trusting their peers again, visiting industry and seeing that there are careers out there, within their grasp.