The pandemic has impacted the project in a massive way by halting the impact we have on children’s & family lives. 

We have had to put a pause on our programmes for all of our schools since March 2020. This has meant that children in their final year in Primary School (Year 6) will no longer be able to complete the course in their school as they will be moving up to secondary school in September. 

We were also about to launch the programme in a new school but this again has been put on pause until schools can resume.

With the pandemic having such a great impact on the education system, we are already expecting lots of changes to come in September. At this stage, schools are unsure whether they will be able to continue Flourish programmes in September or if they will be pushed back until 2021.

With all this change over the past few months, it has forced us to think of new and creative ways that we can continue to impact children and family lives. We are currently looking into building a e-learning programme that will help us to deliver our programme online so children can still access our materials, through fun and interactive online sessions.

We are passionate about continuing to partner with churches who can help to bridge the gap by reaching out to schools and meeting needs in their own local communities, especially at this time where mental wellbeing is being severely impacted. We still have some way to go but we have our goal in mind: reach 100,000 children in the next 10 years.

With the closing of schools across the UK since the end of March, all of our Flourish and Rooted projects have been put on pause until further notice. This has meant that we have had to stop our courses in the middle of a school year when we were building momentum with schools and students. With the future uncertain as too when schools will reopen and the financial implications, this could have on education, the future of Flourish projects is unknown.

During our lockdown, we know that many students will have spent months at home, possibly in unsafe and damaging environments. The need for our courses in schools once they open, in our eyes, will be massive. But this may not be possible if there is no funding for external courses for students.

We are currently reaching out to local churches to see if they would be willing to partner with us. Our desire is to help equip and train volunteers/staff to become facilitators of the project so that the local Church can be a part of the solution in making a difference to young people’s lives and to the community as a whole. This partnership helps bridge the gap between the local Church and local community, developing positive relationships, where Flourish facilitators can be people of influence wherever they are.

We offer a Facilitator Training Day to train any volunteers or staff that might want to become facilitators of The Flourish Project, using it to reach and impact their local school communities by running the 8-week programme.

Once volunteers/staff are trained, we provide you with an annual license giving you access to all the resources you will require to see this project outworked locally.

If this is something your church or organisation may be interested in to support your local community during this difficult time, please let in touch with us and we can give you more details. Check out our Churches Guide with more details about this partnership. Churches Guide Donate Contact Us

Check out what some of our mentors and schools have said about our programmes:

“Partnering with the Flourish Project as a mentor has been an eye-opening experience and deeply rewarding. The topics presented carry great significance in a young person’s development, shaping their future, whilst learning and discovering in an engaging environment. The materials are well-thought-out, easy to get on board with as a mentor, and easy to understand for a young person. From a mentor’s perspective, being able to see the change in these children’s lives has been priceless and a joy to have partnered with.” – Joe Cowley, Rooted Mentor, Life Church EU, Bedworth

“One [parent] said, ‘This has inspired my daughter to audition for a lead role in the Year 6 play. She’d never have done that had she not been part of this project’. She auditioned successfully and did an amazing job! Through the project the girls showed improvement in all 3 areas, however, the most impact was in their mental well-being which is so important for the secondary transition.” – Rachel Ayres, Headteacher, St Mary’s C of E Primary School

We believe for “BIG things to take place” – and are excited to be on a journey to see transformation happen in South Wales improving children’s emotional and mental wellbeing.

It was great to be in South Wales at the end of February where we got to share the vision for the project, which is to see “100,000 children’s lives impacted in a positive way over the next 10 years”.  

At the Vision morning, we were really encouraged to meet representatives from Social Services, the local Foodbank, youth workers, children’s workers, church leaders and volunteers, who all came along to hear how they can partner with us to see this vision rolled out across the whole of South Wales. 

During the next eight months, we are going to be working intensively alongside Elevate Church to see the Flourish project implemented and rolled out – initially into ten schools. 

Forty facilitators will be trained – including teaching assistants, teachers, children’s and youth workers, grandparents, parents, local community volunteers and charity workers. Following the training, the impact and difference made to children, young people and their families are going to be huge. 

We are excited that throughout 2020 we will also be training sixty Champions in this region! A Champion is someone who can come alongside a child/young person, and be that person’s Champion through their actions and life-giving words. 

Feeling stirred? You should be! Watch this space!!