Love Squared is one of our South West Social Investment Tax Relief (SITR) Fund Investees. The social enterprise is just one of 12 organisations invested in by the fund, helping to lift people out of poverty, especially some of the most marginalised communities, by addressing education and learning opportunities for young people amongst many others.
Founded as Leading Lights in 2014, Love Squared works holistically with children experiencing mental health issues that also often impacts their access to mainstream education. Many of the young people have struggled in a school setting but really want to achieve and thrive in education. However, being out of education increases their anxiety and can leave them feeling that, compared to their peers, they are being left behind. That, combined with the reasons they are out of education in the first place can increase their social isolation and worsen their mental health, resulting in challenging barriers to educational achievement.
The focus at Love Squared is on ensuring each person’s individual needs are
being met. Improvements made in one area are used to spur improvements in others, for example via the Outreach programme that provides education and learning opportunities for young people with Education, Health, Care Plans (EHCPs) across seven Local Authorities and the NHS. With support and a genuine sense of ownership of their education, young people can engage with education and work towards qualifications including GCSEs, A levels, BTECs, Animal Care qualifications and Functional Skills
Recently, our South West and West Midlands SITR Social Impact Report included a case study on J, one of Love Squared’s pupils, J’s story represents just one example of the positive outcomes that can be achieved for a young person in need of mental health and educational support through services like Love Squared.
J had been struggling with attending mainstream school when he was in Year
8, during the pandemic. Being initially reluctant to engage with professionals, it was hard to get a medical diagnosis. J’s family had lost a bit of confidence in ‘the system’ and were crying out for help. Finally given a diagnosis, J’s family secured an EHCP and was put in touch with Love Squared by the Local Authority, who matched him with a Case Manager, Ben, and mentor, Ru.
J’s family felt that they lost him for a little bit; he was nocturnal and wasn’t interacting with people. The connection between J and Ru, and then with new mentors, was transformational for J.
He still sometimes struggles with engagement, but through practitioner support and understanding, he is a different, more confident person. A friend of J said to his family, “I’ve got my old friend back”.
J has regained his love of education and wants to be a firefighter. A visit was arranged to the local fire station — a wonderful and positive experience for J that really reinvigorated him. He really is a different person.
His family recently said, “It’s been amazing… We’ve seen J blossom into a lovely young man. We have a much better relationship with J than we ever could’ve imagined. He’s quite reflective and he always says he wishes he’d gone to school. A 360 degrees turnaround”.
J isn’t the only young person to be helped by the social enterprise:
Love Squared received a £75,000 investment from Resonance’s South West SITR fund in December 2019. The investment was used to focus on developing core staffing. This includes taking on additional administrative and operational support to enable growth and capacity as well as ensuring quality assurance and infrastructure development. The investment has also been used for essential renovations to ‘Glow’ Love Squared’s specialist children’s hub.
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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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