Nick Clegg reaffirms need for summer schools as ReachOut!'s Summer Programme is in its eighth year

On the final day of the Liberal Democrat party conference, the leader of the party proposed a summer school scheme as a response to the riots that took over London in early August. During his keynote speech to his party on Wednesday, Nick Clegg highlighted the need to invest in programmes that would prevent young people from going 'off the rails'. Suggesting the introduction of summer schools and youth projects as a means to tackling these issues, Clegg argued that “Too many of those young people had simply fallen through the cracks, not just this summer but many summers ago when they lost touch with their own future."

The Deputy Prime Minister's concerns take us back to ReachOut!'s own Summer Programme this August. The proposal strikes a particular chord with the ReachOut! project, being a voluntary scheme and targeting a demographic that is directly referenced by Nick Clegg in his speech.

The ReachOut! Summer Programme is based in Hackney, one of the areas worst hit by the riots this summer, and the team were forced to close the school briefly as a result. However this August, the charity ran its eighth such programme, and the project, which provides a constructive way to spend the summer for young people and children from across east London experienced its most successful year ever despite the disruption.

As the country reflects on the summer and looks towards the next, ReachOut!'s work with young people seems even more relevant. In these analytical months after the riots, voices from across the political and social spectrum ask what it is we can learn from them. The growth of programmes like ReachOut!'s is absolutely crucial.

Clegg also talked of the step up from primary to secondary school, and the problems that face pupils moving from year 6 into year 7. This is an age category that the charity's ReachOut! Club (previously MMP) directly works with. Again, reliant on volunteers, the term time project aims to assist this often difficult transition, aiding not only academic success but also personal development and self esteem.

At a time of increasing difficulty for the charity sector and raising national concern about our young people, support for ReachOut's projects is vital.



Charlotte Goodhart and Steph Pickerill