The Hargreaves Foundation supports The Jon Egging Trust

The Trustees of the Hargreaves Foundation are pleased to announce funding has been awarded to the Jon Egging Trust (JET), a charity that supports disadvantaged young people to overcome adversity, to develop social and emotional skills, and to fulfil their potential. JET operates in 12 counties across England and Wales providing sporting and educational activities that foster life skills for 11- to 16-year-olds from disadvantaged backgrounds and/or those identified by teachers as disengaging in the classroom and lacking in confidence or aspiration.

The funding will allow JET to deliver its intensive, early intervention Blue Skies programme for the first time in Cornwall. The STEM-inspired programme supports students for up to three years, helping participants to re-engage with education, improve their grades, build aspiration and self-worth, and strive for positive futures upon leaving school.

The funding will be used to deliver the Blue Skies Level 1 ‘Teamwork’ syllabus, the first year of the programme, to 30 young people in the academic year September 2023 to August 2024. Consisting of five syllabus-driven in-school sessions and five out-of-school inspirational visits to partner workplaces and/or activity venues, including Goonhilly Earth Station.  Level 1 supports participants to develop trust, communication, confidence and collaboration within a team environment. Each student will receive 33 support hours per year, with 990 hours of support delivered across the funding period, together with an evaluation and graduation ceremony.

As well as reducing inequality for participants, JET’s Blue Skies programmes have been shown to improve educational attainment, enhance employability skills and increase social mobility.