Alternative education services provider, The 0161-Project, has opened its new headquarters on Southchurch Parade in Collyhurst, supported by Far East Consortium (FEC), the developer bringing forward Manchester’s Victoria North project.
Originating from Collyhurst and Moston Boxing Club, The 0161-Project offers alternative education services to mainstream schools, independent schools and other agencies working with vulnerable young people in Greater Manchester, who are at risk of school exclusion or who have social emotional and mental health needs. It uses boxing and other physical activity as a vehicle to develop confidence, discipline, life skills and help build a positive identity.
Its new head office and intervention base in Collyhurst will allow the social purpose organisation to coordinate activities across its four educational sites in North Manchester and help to support the 100 young people currently on its educational programmes. Alongside FEC, The 0161 Project was also supported by DEX Construction, who completed the refurbishment of the new HQ, and geotechnical consultants LK Group, who undertook the yard clearance on site giving the charity more usable space.
The 0161-Project has expanded rapidly over the past couple of years, and now offers group-based training, 1-to-1 referral sessions and a new post-16 programme that offers an alternative to mainstream further education across four delivery sites in Harpurhey, Collyhurst and Moston.
As it looks to the future, the organisation is looking to expand its reach and has partnered with a number of other organisations to offer alternative vocational educational courses. These include catering training with Kylie’s Kitchen, hair and beauty courses via Inspire and bike maintenance through the Nationwide Cycling Academy. It is also growing its permanent team of staff, with 13 team members due to be on board by September.
The site in Collyhurst is part of FEC’s Victoria North regeneration area, which will deliver 15,000 homes over the next decade.
Thomas McDonagh, Founder of the 0161-Project, said: “Demand for our services has increased considerably over the past couple of years, and we wanted to ensure that we’re able to keep up with this but also have room to grow in future and help even more vulnerable young people. We’re passionate about supporting the youth of North Manchester but believe that not everyone learns in the same way, so it is really important to have alternative education provision available.
“We’ve learned a lot on our journey so far, but through our new intervention centre and partnering with other local providers we’re excited to build an even greater network of support for the young people in our community and would welcome support from any other businesses who could offer our students work experience.”
Rebecca Kirkland, Community Liaison Manager at FEC, commented: “The 0161-Project is such an important part of the North Manchester community, so we knew we wanted to do our part to make sure that they had somewhere to call home in Collyhurst. From this new site they’ll be able to reach even more young people in the community and be able to access other delivery partners.
“As a team, we’re always looking for community projects like this one within Victoria North to contribute to, especially when local children will ultimately benefit.”
The new site was refurbished by contractors, DEX Construction and LK Group. This included both internal redecoration and clearing of the external yard.
Simon Adams, Managing Director of DEX Construction Group Limited, added: “Everyone involved has enjoyed using their expertise to help out the local Collyhurst community, and we’re looking forward to hearing about the many 0161 Project success stories.”
