Red Balloon which supports children who are too frightened to got to school because of bullying, mental health problems or trauma in their lives.

There are apparently 16,000 children missing from school because of bullying. They need our care and kindness. So will you sponsor me please? And your generosity will go some way to keeping me warm on those cold winter roads and trails!

Depression and hyper-anxiety among young people in further education is increasing. In 2016 66% of post 16 colleges said numbers had ‘significantly increased’ in the past 3 years; at the same time 43% had no full time counsellor or support worker. Young Minds have reported in an average classroom, three students will have a diagnosed mental illness, and many more will be battling conditions for which they have not sought help. (Association of College of the Eastern Region (ACER) Well Being in Further Education 2016).

A far greater proportion of young people do not continue to participate in post 16 education and training than pre-sixteen schooling. Nearly one in ten 16 – 18 year olds are not engaged despite the Government’s initiative in Raising the Participation Age to 18 (RPA) (Proportion of 16-17 Year Olds Meeting the Duty to Participate, Department for Education, 12th October 2017). Missing out 16 – 18 can be disastrous for the individuals concerned as education and training is only free until their 19th birthday (nearly all post 19 education is funded by personal learning loans – financial burdens which can create ongoing stress) and missing out on training when young is shown to damage longer term careers prospects.

You can find amazing stories about the great work Red Balloon is doing here:  https://www.redballoonlearner.org/stories/

Many thanks for visiting this page.