Belfast pupils gain wellbeing boost thanks to £6,000 Tesco Stronger Starts grant

• Redburn Alternative Education Provision in Holywood to receive £6,000 Stronger Starts grant from Tesco
• Grant will enable the school to take pupils on educational outings that promote team-building, self-esteem and cross-community relations.
• The grant follows Tesco’s role as partner for The King’s Trust Education Award where the school of the winning pupil receives a grant
• The grant is one of four being given by Tesco to schools across the UK, all of which deliver the King’s Trust education programme, Achieve

The grant is in honour of a former pupil at the school, Taylor, winning the Tesco Education Award at The King’s Trust and TK Maxx & Homesense Awards earlier this year.

Alice O’Reilly, teacher at Redburn A.E.P says,

“We are so grateful to Tesco for this life-changing amount of money it has awarded to the school. Students today face a number of challenges, and at Redburn we try to offer young people the greatest chance of leaving with the qualifications and confidence they need to succeed in life. The grant will help us to provide pupils with experiences which enhance their development, such as school trips which promote team-building, self-esteem and cross-community relations. This is particularly welcome as financial restraints have restricted our ability to organise such educational outings in recent years.”

Redburn A.E.P is a Delivery Partner of The King’s Trust, and delivers the youth charity’s in-school programme, ‘Achieve’. Achieve is a flexible personal development programme designed to support students, like award-winner Taylor, to succeed in education. Young people work together on practical learning projects, designed to boost confidence as well as improving self-esteem, attainment, behaviour and attendance.

Current Achieve Club member Sam explains the impact Achieve has had on them, and why they’re grateful for this Stronger Starts grant:

“The support from The King’s Trust is like learning to ride a bike with training wheels on – you can learn to ride freely in your own direction, but with help along the way. As a young person on Achieve, I have learned how to accept people from different backgrounds and have also learned to accept myself. It’s helped me to build a brighter future. I’d like to thank Tesco for this grant which means my peers and I can experience fun trips that can help us build tolerance, develop resilience and learn more about topics like mental health, racial discrimination, domestic violence and homophobia. Thank you!”

Since 2018, The King’s Trust have been working with Tesco to empower communities across the UK. Tesco primarily support The Trust’s education work, funding the Achieve programme, and contributing to the Education Hub which provides vital resources on topics like mental health and wellbeing, and enrichment opportunities such as world-of-work store tours. More recently, the partnership has expanded to include in-work support for young people during their first three months of employment, helping them transition successfully from education into the world of work.

Alison Cheung, UK & ROI People Director at Tesco, said:

“We’re delighted to be able to support young people with Stronger Starts grants from Tesco which will make a real difference, and provide them access to new programmes and facilities. We were proud to again partner with The King’s Trust Education Award this year, and massive congratulations to Taylor and all the winners who are all working towards a brighter future.”

Stronger Starts, which Tesco runs in partnership with Groundwork UK, provides grants to help schools and community groups working with children provide nutritious food and healthy activities that support young people’s physical health and mental wellbeing, such as breakfast clubs or snacks, and equipment for healthy activities. Grants have also been awarded to three schools across Scotland, Wales and England.

Since it launched in 2023, the programme has provided over £14 million grants to over 14,000 schools and community groups, supporting more than 3.5 million children.

Youth charity The King’s Trust gives young people the skills and confidence to get their lives on track. Three in four young people helped by The King’s Trust in the past five years have moved into work, training or education.