BBC Children in Need

In Scotland, many young people leave school without any plans to go into further education, training or employment. This may be because they have not engaged with formal education – perhaps because their basic literacy and numeracy skills are low and they struggle to keep up with their classmates. Equally, it could be because they are the victims of serious bullying and have poor attendance records as a result. Or it could be that their disruptive behaviour has led to repeated exclusions, meaning that their education has been continually interrupted.

Thanks to funding from BBC Children In Need, we are tackling this problem. Children In Need have made it possible for pupils from two secondary schools in Glasgow to come to Fairbridge to receive training and support. By helping young people tackle underlying issues affecting them, giving them to access extra support where necessary and teaching them techniques to control their feelings, we have given them a chance to re-engage with school and gain some of the skills they may be lacking through non-attendance.

Our programme gets results: over 75% of young people aged between 13 and 15 have had positive outcomes with us during the last year. These include returning to education, improved attendance, a better school report, and gaining an external qualification, such as ASDAN, Duke of Edinburgh or First Aid.