ReachOut is a mentoring and education charity providing targeted youth development programmes in under-resourced communities. We provide mentoring from positive role models, interactions with employers and activities that cultivate character and develop social and emotional skills.
At ReachOut, we run afterschool mentoring projects across London and Manchester for young people aged 9-14. We work with schools in underserved areas where many young people don’t have the same opportunities that others do.
Each young person in a ReachOut project is paired with a volunteer mentor. Every week, they take part in individual mentoring and fun group activities that cultivate character and promote social and emotional skills development. This helps them to become more confident, resilient, and better equipped for the future.
We run two types of projects – ReachOut Club which takes place in primary schools with young people aged 9-11 and ReachOut Academy which takes place in high schools with young people aged 11-14.
At the heart of both of them are three things:
The high-quality, intensive programmes we deliver go far beyond academic tutoring.
Fundamental to our approach is developing young people’s character.
We believe a focus on developing key character strengths helps young people to make better decisions and take on whatever life throws at them; at school, at home and in later life.
We work with amazing young people who need some additional support to reach and be confident in their potential.
Working closely with schools, we identify young people who often don’t have the advantages that others do and who are most likely to benefit from our interventions.
Our work helps young people to build their academic and social confidence and prepare them for a world of opportunities.
ReachOut works in areas where young people face a variety of social and economic challenges.
Our programmes support young people to overcome the barriers they face and create wider positive change in society.
Mentoring, group activities and work experiences open up fresh horizons for young people and give them new tools and networks to support their futures.
“ReachOut opened everything up a little more for me.”
ReachOut Mentee
“At first, I was really hesitant to take on the Project Leader role, despite having mentored with ReachOut. However, with the support of the team I’ve really developed my skills. For example, at the Mentee Graduation, I stood up in front of 200 people and presented an award which is something I would never ever have been able to have done before, and isn’t an opportunity I could gain in my other situations.”
Amy McCutcheon, Project Leader at ReachOut Academy, Dean Trust Ardwick, Manchester.
“Being able to spend the summer working at Rede Partners, was an amazing experience. Whether it was working in HR or Finance, I learned so much about the world of private equity, made great connections with fantastic people and I got to learn first-hand what it would be like to work there! I really believe that I can go onto build the career I want now I’ve been a part for a workplace for real”
Victor Adekunle, 18 years old, ReachOut Ambassador, London
“When I first my mentee, she was very reluctant to participate in the sessions. Now, I see a completely different person! Her confidence has grown and she is happy to join in! She still has some self-doubt when it comes to academic work, but that’s what I hope to help her overcome, because she is a very bright person!
Through mentoring, I’ve learnt I’m a lot more patient than I realised. There will be days where she refuses to participate and those are the days that I really see the importance of the character strengths, for both the mentees and the mentors. It also makes it easier for the mentee to understand the character strengths, when I use them myself”
Myrtle, ReachOut Club mentor at Tufnell Primary School, London
“There are more distractions than ever outside of school, and the commitment of our students to attend ReachOut sessions is testament to the value they place on the relationships they foster there, and the challenge and enjoyment they provide.
ReachOut’s focus on communication skills and character development has become an important aspect of our provision of support for these students. The opportunity to relate to a positive role- model other than their usual teachers is key to the programme’s impact, and the evidence of this has been seen in the students’ attendance, resilience and to their overall progress across all the subjects in the school.”
Thomas Janvrin, Assistant Vice Principal at the Petchey Academy London
