University challenge

Will Atkins, Oldham Hulme Grammar Schools’ head of biology, with project members

A PROJECT which is inspiring teenagers from Fitton Hill to go to university has been nominated for a Pride in Oldham Award.

Twice a week, nine GCSE pupils from various schools attend English, maths, science and arts lessons at Oldham Hulme Grammar Schools.

It is part of a project which also gives 10 sixth-form pupils from Hulme the opportunity to take part in community projects in Fitton Hill and debate issue such as inequality and justice.

The aim is also to have fun and make new friends — and the project will culminate with a trip of a lifetime to Ecuador in July.

The project was inspired by Prof Aidan Halligan, director of education at University College London. He wanted to investigate the connection between education and location having previously looked at health and location.

He was put in contact with Hulme, which ran a pilot before setting up the 12-month project with the Salvation Army’s Eden Project youth group.

Each activity gains the students credits towards the Ecuador expedition— where they will work on a community scheme. They are also holding a range of fund-raising activities.

Project organiser Carol Wilkinson, deputy principal (prep schools), and said: “There is tremendous enthusiasm from everyone involved and it is just wonderful to see the friendships formed. We are trying to encourage and support young people living in Fitton Hill to have the confidence and self-esteem to want to further their academic career and believe they can go to university.

“It is very much within the Oldham community, trying to do the best for the the people living here and keeping it within Oldham. An awful lot of projects take people away to new areas and nothing gets fed back into the community they originally live in.

“We are trying to encourage these young people to go off to university, to come back and say to their friends ‘you can do it because I did it’. To actually get them to believe.”