NAME OF ORGANISATION: Belong Learning
LOCATION: Gloucestershire, Devon and Wiltshire
YEAR FOUNDED: 2013
ABOUT: Belong Learning provides education, access to qualifications and employment and additional services for young people who find that mainstream education doesn’t meet their needs.
INVESTMENT PURPOSE: The investments have enabled development of resources and sites and an advance in staff training.
INVESTMENT AMOUNT: £250,000, £180,000
DATE OF INVESTMENT: April 2019, February 2021
SOURCE OF INVESTMENT: Resonance South West SITR Fund
IMPACT: Education & Learning; Poverty & Disadvantage
ABOUT: Belong Learning provides education, access to qualifications and employment and additional services for young people and the families of young people who find that mainstream education doesn’t meet their needs. This might be students that have been socially or educationally excluded or who do not find traditional education routes advantageous. Their aspirational curriculum has been created with the three key aims of helping children grow their confidence, learn to enjoy education and thrive as responsible citizens. As well as offering the core subjects such as English, maths, RE and science, Belong Learning also offer extended curriculum and specialist subjects such as art, languages, humanities and technical subjects. Additionally, students are encouraged to take part in extra-curricular programmes such as Duke of Edinburgh, first aid, gardening and music therapy.
PURPOSE OF INVESTMENT: The investments of £250,000 and £180,000 from the South West SITR Fund have enabled Belong Learning to develop their resources and sites, facilitating the expansion of their curriculum and providing more space for face-to-face education. Investment has also meant an advance in the training of staff meaning that the support provided for the 80 children accessing full time education is deeper.
Since the first investment Belong Learning has seen a 61% increase in the number of young people supported.
James Evans, CEO of Belong Learning's CEO: “Having formed in 2013 and implemented new leadership in 2018, social enterprise CMAS CiC is pleased to announce a significant step on its rapid growth journey as it relaunches as Belong Learning and adopts a new brand identity. […] The relaunch process follows a significant period of growth for the organisation that includes a successful capital injection in February this year, through Social Investment partners, Resonance, to support further developing our provisions, including the opening of a fantastic new school site in Exeter. […] Every one of us needs to belong; it is a core human necessity at all stages of life. It has always been this organisation’s vision to provide vulnerable children and young people with opportunity to remain included, both in schools and in their communities and Belong Learning is a new chapter for us to continue to work to disrupt exclusion and meet the unmet needs of individual children within a learning environment.”
Resonance Limited is a company registered in England and Wales no. 04418625
Resonance Impact Investment Limited, a subsidiary of Resonance Limited, is authorized and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Firm number 588462.
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