ReachOut gets a makeover

It’s here! The ReachOut rebrand has begun. Over the coming weeks we’ll be giving everything “ReachOut” a fresh lick of paint, so don’t be alarmed if things start to appear different, we’re still the same ReachOut just better looking!

So how did we get here?

A tiny charity started by Manchester University students back in 1994, ReachOut has been shaped and grown over the past 19 years. With only a handful of children in our first year, we now work with over 1000 children through our mentoring programmes.

Over time we have experimented with various logos, colours, images and punctuation. Although we became quite attached to the strange morph like figures and our exclamation mark, we felt it was time to seek help from the pros. 

We were fortunate to have some support from design company Pentagram, who agreed to take on the ReachOut rebrand as a pro bono project and have spent many late nights and early mornings coming up with ideas and concepts for the new brand.

We hope that this logo and strapline reflect the scientific nature of our mentoring programmes which have been designed in line with our mission statement. They combine one-to-one mentoring and group activities with a focus on developing ReachOut’s four competencies and four character values.

The competencies (Numeracy, Literacy, Memory and Communication) are derived from experience, observation and discussion of the skills essential to achieve one’s goal in life, whilst the character values (Fairness, Good Judgement, Self-Control and Staying Power) are based on Plato’s  Cardinal Virtues, which work together to achieve happiness.

And our programmes get results.

For the second year in a row young people at the ReachOut Academy in Hackney have exceeded the national average of pupils achieving five good GCSEs (5 A* – C grades including English and Maths). A recent survey of mentees who attended the ReachOut Academy in 2011/12 whilst in Year 11 revealed that 73.9 per cent hit the target, compared to 59.4 per cent nationally.

Last year there was a 26% average increase in the number of children who achieved the government target in KS2 Reading, Writing and Numeracy after participating in the ReachOut Club and receiving one-to-one support, compared to the previous year before becoming a ReachOut mentee.

And so I am extremely proud to unveil our new logo – ta da! 

The new brand is professional, attractive, and celebrates our mentees’ and mentors’ achievements.

Thank you to all who have helped ReachOut get to where we are today, and a special thank you to Katee, Joe, Tom, Zoe, Lucy, Sophie and Nick at Pentagram for all their hard work and our wonderful new brand!

Like our new page on facebook, follow us on Twitter and link with us on LinkedIn to stay up to date with the latest ReachOut news.

Thank You Manchester Volunteers!

As a mentoring charity we need volunteers to achieve the goals we set for ourselves, so it goes without saying that we are hugely grateful to anyone who invests time and effort into our projects. The volunteer awards ceremony is a chance for us to give a little back to all the fantastic people who have helped us throughout the year.

We ran the event at our Rusholme headquarters in central Manchester. Volunteers from all of our many projects attended to enjoy a Mediterranean feast (courtesy of Falafel in Rusholme) along with plenty of Shloer. Once all of our volunteers were sated we began proceedings. 

Cheriece Carter won our prestigious volunteer of the year title for her exemplary commitment and leadership throughout the two terms at the St Johns club. We had an extra special prize for the award this year, and Cheriece took home a Samsung Galaxy Tab II.Well done Cheriece you deserve it!

Our Mentor of the year award went to Nick Houlston who has volunteered for two years, working with the same young person throughout. Over that time Nick has been able to make a real impact on his mentee and has helped to instill ReachOut's values of staying power, fairness, good judgement, and self control. In thanks for his efforts Nick was awarded two tickets to Manchester's Parklife festival.

There were plenty of candidates for both of these awards. Every year at ReachOut we are flooded with passionate and inspirational mentors, so choosing these awards is always a difficult task. Nick and Cheriece were two of a great many people we are proud to have associated with our organization and we hope that all of the volunteers in attendance felt appreciated.

All in all it was a great evening. Here's to another completed year of ReachOut projects. To all those leaving us this year, good luck! To all those staying with us next year, we can't wait to get started with you again!

CEO Xavier Bosh 

St Johns Language Mentoring

Post 16 Project

ReachOut Project Leaders

Our own Jo Mcswaine with two of her mentors

Conference calls and money matters with Barclays

Radbroke Hall is not the kind of place you would think to find the headquarters of a global banks technical division. Located among leafy country lanes, sparsely populated rural villages, and picturesque thick grassed meadows, one might be forgiven for thinking that the venue was the set of a Jane Austen adaptation. But we were there for some serious financial coaching, not afternoon tea with Mr Darcy.

Our group of junior mentors had the opportunity to learn how to best manage their finances, and how to save money in an informed, structured way (which was helpful to us project managers too). The Barclays team produced imaginary scenarios and asked the junior mentors to brainstorm in teams how finances might be managed in each scenario.

The group of junior mentors were then given the opportunity to speak to teams from around the world, conference calling with teams in Singapore, India, and South Africa. The overseas teams would pitch new ideas to the junior mentors that ranged from: plans to build a new sports complex for employees, to a new smartphone app that allowed for quick access to personal bank accounts using facial and vocal recognition as security instead if passwords. The junior mentors then took on the roles of investors, asking probing questions that Theo Paphitis and Deborah Meaden would be proud of.

The workshop then ended with a tour of Radbroke Hall and the different departments, and no, Mr Darcy wasn’t working in accounts.

All in all, another successful workshop. 

Luke Shelbourn

Manchester