what we've been up to this month: Here's our full monthly update on our projects! -Climate Project @ TEMA: This month we have been completing some speedy social action at The East Manchester Academy. After the huge success of this project last year with Stockport schools we have ventured into Manchester time time. The group have been amazing - buzzing with lots of ideas. Their campaign on paper waste and recycling has led to them getting new paper recycling bins for each cla

Young people across Stockport have been telling us loud and clear: they do not just want to be listened to – they want to make change happen. That is the starting point for L!STEN ACT CHANGE. Over the past three years, through the L!STEN project, we have heard thousands of young voices, building a strong picture of what matters most to young people across Stockport. More recently, in February, we heard from 722 young people who told us what they would like to change in thei

We're pleased to publish this year's Youth Summit Impact Report in full! Here at PIE, the Youth Summit is a big date in our calendar! We spend weeks visiting schools and laying the groundwork, liaising and planning with partners and funders to make the Summit as successful as possible. This year's Summit was bigger than ever, so give our report a read below, and scroll to the end for a quick update from Evie about what has happened since.... Youth Summit Follow Up - from Evie

On Wednesday 25th February we had the pleasure of delivering a Positive Futures Day at Bridgehall Primary School for all of their Year 5 and Year 6 pupils. The day was coordinated by PIE (Pursuing Individual Excellence) on behalf of the AdsBridge Youth Connection partnership, bringing together several local organisations to run a series of interactive workshops for the young people. In total, 46 pupils took part in the full-day programme. The aim of the day was to give youn

From December to February, we’ve been busy delivering Creative Launchpad with Chorlton High School and Burnage Academy for Boys — and what a few months it’s been! The aim of the project was simple: to help young people understand what a career in creative communications actually looks like, and to give them the chance to experience it for themselves.    Creative Launchpad was delivered in collaboration with Tangerine , a leading PR and social agency based in central Manchest

On Tuesday 10th February, the stunning Ballroom at Stockport Town Hall was filled with energy, ideas and ambition as we hosted the third annual Youth Summit, delivered in partnership between PIE, L!STEN and Stockport Council. With over 200 young people, educators, community organisations and local leaders in attendance, the summit demonstrated the strength of youth voice across Stockport. From the moment schools began exploring the vibrant marketplace of local opportunities,

Following the Stockport Youth Summit last week, we are looking to get more young people involved in youth voice and wider opportunities across Stockport. We would love to invite everyone to an upcoming drop-in session to explore next steps! We are hosting a relaxed  drop-in session  where young people can find out more about and take part in our  L!STEN Act Change  and  PIE Active Gamechangers  projects: Thursday 26th February 5:00pm – 7:00pm (drop in anytime) Hat Works, Stoc

We are so proud to share that we have recently completed the 12th Wave of Change programme — and what a journey it has been. Funded by WEA and delivered in collaboration with our brilliant partners at The Goodness Collective , this Wave brought together an inspiring and diverse group of women who committed to investing in themselves, their growth, and their futures. Over the course of the programme, women took part in group coaching sessions focused on personal development

At Pursuing Individual Excellence (PIE), we believe that access to meaningful, well-supported work experience can be a crucial step in helping young people build confidence, develop skills, and move closer to education, employment or training. NEXT Gen Stockport is a project designed to do exactly that—supporting young people while also working closely with local organisations to strengthen work-experience opportunities across the borough. Funded by Sector 3 as part of the

Each year, we take on some students to support our work, and so they can complete work-placements that will in turn, support their research. Since October Emily, Tilly & Holly (find out a bit more about them here ) have been getting stuck in with day-to-day PIE life, but they are soon delving into their own research and dissertation writing, so we thought we would take a look at their plans and themes and see how they link to our work! ----------------------------------------

This week we've got Evie to here to fill us in on the R-time Youth Awards! On Friday 16th January, We hosted the R-time Youth Awards! We celebrated a large number of nominees and winners for their amazing achievements as young people in Stockport. 10 awards across 10 categories were given out throughout the night with numerous nominees in each, making the judging decision very difficult. We were treated to a number of performances from young people nominated in different ca

On Saturday, we ran our second Henry Smith Charity funded trip to London! We took 20 young people from Stockport - from across all our different groups, most of whom had never been to the capital before - to explore London and spend time learning, exploring and experiencing a new place. It was an early start, with an 8:20am train from Stockport Station to London Euston, but excitement was high as the group set off for the day ahead. After arriving in London, we jumped strai

We're really proud to share our latest impact report! Compiled from our data over the year, we are so pleased that our work as a team of 5 is translated into these numbers. You can take a look at last year's report here if you fancy comparing. Well done to the whole team and here's to another exciting year!

In November, Ciara had the opportunity to attend the UK Youth Active Futures Residential at their outdoor activity centre in Bournemouth. After being successful in securing a place on the Active Futures Fellowship, Ciara was invited to take part in this two-day residential experience. The residential brought together representatives from 30 organisations across the UK who had also been selected for the fellowship. It was a great opportunity to connect with others, share exper

The West Hill Tameside Tracks group had a fantastic day last Thursday as they hosted the Tameside Tracks Community Day at Stalybridge Train Station! Tameside Tracks is a brilliant social action project driven by a passionate group of West Hill School students. Since May, they’ve been working with PIE and bursting with ideas on how to brighten up Stalybridge Train Station and make a real difference in their community. The project gave young people the chance to develop new ski

Moving On is one of the core strands of our Adswood Youth Connection project , funded through the VRU. After a successful trial last summer, we made the decision—alongside our Step Up transition programme—to embed Moving On as a permanent, year-round offer for young people who need additional support outside of mainstream education. The programme is designed for young people who, for a wide range of reasons, are currently not in school or formal learning. Our aim is to give t

It's that time of Year when Gemma has been working hard getting all our ducks in a row for Christmas! Here's what's coming up: 🎄 PIE’s Annual Family Christmas Morning is Back! 🎅 It’s the most wonderful time of the year — and we’re thrilled to announce that PIE’s Annual Family Christmas Morning is back for 2025! 📅 Monday 22nd December 🕙 10:00am 📍 Marple Regent Cinema 🎥 Film to be confirmed (but it’s sure to get everyone in the Christmas spirit!) This much-loved community

Our L!STEN Steering Group received a very special honour last week, here's Evie Coley-Scott to tell us all about it: Last week we had the absolute privilege of a lifetime to travel to London to collect our British Citizenship Youth Award ! We had a very early wake up call to get the train to Euston. 2 hours and a 20 minute delay later, we arrived in London. A quick changeover to the tube had us get off at embankment and walk along the Hungerford Bridge, take some photos and

Last week, PIE was proud to co-host the first-ever NextGen Stockport event alongside Sector 3 Stockport and Grassroots Recruitment , supported by the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) . The morning brought together more than 50 representatives from Stockport’s business, education and VCFSE sectors to explore how we can work together to deliver meaningful work experience for every young person in the borough. From the first conversation to the final handshake, th

It's time to welcome some new faces to PIE for this academic year, welcome to Emily, Tilly & Holly!