The Brighton and Hove City Council Raising Aspirations Programme

This research was designed to support Brighton & Hove City Council’s ‘Raising Aspirations’ programme, by investigating and analysing the impact of various activities commissioned to raise the aspirations of 8- to 13-year-olds across three projects in Brighton & Hove. The three strands were: Shooting Stars, a series of small-group interventions to raise aspirations of selected children from four participating primary schools Children Can Do, a system for empowering young people to develop community projects and manage a viable funding scheme for this work Spurgeons, an approach to recruiting and training volunteers to provide one-to-one mentoring for children and young people referred for such support. The research, which involved both quantitative and qualitative elements, had two aims. First, the research assessed the impact of the three strands of activity, considering a number of variables ranging from the aspirations and well-being of the young people involved to the level of engagement of other stakeholders in the community (families, school staff, and beyond). Second, the research illuminated the key processes involved in this work, in order to identify the characteristics and conditions that facilitate success as well as the obstacles that hinder progress. In these ways, the research arrived at a set of recommendations regarding effective approaches for supporting the development of children and young people within the local community, as well as strategic priorities for provision for 8- to 13-year-olds in Brighton & Hove.