Globetown Learning Community is a charity operating out of Morpeth School in Tower Hamlets. Being in the one of the most deprived areas in the country, Globetown aims to improve young people’s life chances through education. Many of the families they help have low incomes, with a history of high unemployment and little experience of their children staying on in secondary or further education. Globetown’s approach of working with the whole family to support the young person in their studies has had great results and they now have many young people who have gone on to university, the first generation in their family to do so. Many of these students now give up their time to act as mentors for younger children involved in the project.
Students like Leon Williams, who was fifteen and thinking of leaving school when he first got involved:
“I’m not exaggerating when I say that becoming involved with Globetown changed the direction of my life. It would have been so easy to get trapped in a different way of life and if I hadn’t become part of their Raising Aspirations Project I think I would have ended my education then. My mum wanted me to get an apprenticeship at 16 but I know if I had, I wouldn’t have had the experiences and made the choices I have. It’s easy to get involved with antisocial behaviour and drugs but University kept me focused and determined to have a better life. I now have a degree in Criminology and play American Football for Great Britain.”
Pilotlight saw the great potential of Globetown and began working with them at the beginning of 2007. Globetown’s Director, Jackie Barnes knew they had to capitalise on their success and expand their services but needed help developing a proper strategy and got in touch to see if Pilotlight could help. Pilotlight put together a team which helped them develop a business plan and accountancy structure as well as key changes to their HR policies. Jackie believes Pilotlight’s help has been invaluable and she has appreciated having mentors she could turn to for advice.
Globetown's Director, Jackie Barnes notes of her experience, 'Without support from Pilotlight we wouldn't be here now. It was a massive learning curve for us all but they gave us the foundation we needed. We are more likely to get funding now because we have a decent business plan and strategy in place. Everyone at Pilotlight is so positive and they really want it to be a success."
Globetown has helped over sixty young people get into higher education since it started its Raising Aspirations programme and continues to build on its success.