On Saturday 25th July, PIE took 20 young people to London for an exciting day out at the HYPER JAPAN Festival 2026 at Olympia London. The trip was a fantastic opportunity for the young people to experience something completely different, explore Japanese culture and expand their cultural capital — all while enjoying a fun day out together. Our adventure started with a train journey down to London Euston. Once we arrived in the capital, we jumped onto the air-conditioned Overg

Following the successful pilot of NextGen, PIE’s supported work experience programme, we’re delighted to be continuing the programme through the autumn and into 2027. NextGen gives young people the chance to explore different jobs and workplaces, try practical experiences linked to their interests and build skills, confidence and real-world experience. It may be particularly helpful for young people who feel unsure about what they would like to do next, have had little or no

As we reach the end of the 2025–26 academic year, we're taking a moment to reflect on what has been an incredibly busy and rewarding year! We've been delighted to continue supporting our long-standing partner schools in Blackpool and Leeds, while also working with schools across Stockport and the wider Greater Manchester area. Throughout the year, we've delivered drop-down days, social action projects, careers sessions, Future Ready programmes and work experience opportunitie

As we come to the end of this phase of NextGen it's a great opportunity to reflect on everything that's been achieved so far. While this marks the conclusion of this section of the project, it's certainly not the end of the journey. Over the past few months, we've worked alongside MakeGood to renovate the garden space behind the Cat's Cauldron in Stockport to develop a community garden area for community groups to use. The work completed so far has laid a strong foundation,

For the Tameside Digital Exploration project, we have been working alongside the fantastic Starting Point Community Learning Partnership and Tameside Council to explore young people's experiences of life online. Together, we have been working with two brilliant youth groups – Tameside Youth Council and Tameside's LGBTQ+ Youth Group – to explore the good, the bad and the ugly of being online. From celebrating creativity and connection to discussing online harms and digital saf

Thanks to funding from TransPennine Express through the TransPennine Route Upgrade (TRU), a group of young people from Fairfield High School for Girls have transformed Fairfield Station while developing valuable skills and exploring exciting career opportunities. The project began with students carrying out a station audit, identifying ways to improve their local station and learning how social action can create positive change. Working within a real project budget, they plan

Our NextGen project has finished its second phase! Over the past few months, PIE has been running the NextGen pilot programme, providing work experience across 5 different organisations for young people in Stockport. We've finished renovating the garden space behind the Cats Cauldron in Stockport. Our cohort completed a range of different DIY projects to create a vibrant and welcoming space which included painting, building furniture and planting lots of different flowers. Bi

Before her maternity break, Beth visited Heaton Chapel Guides to introduce them to social action and how they can make a difference! Today's blog is written by Caroline (Leader) & the Guides to tell us how it went and how it supported them to be a force for good in their community: This term, 1st Heaton Chapel Guides have been exploring Girlguiding’s Take Action theme, looking at how young people can use their voices and ideas to make a positive difference. To help bring the

What have we been up to? NextGen Our NextGen project has finished its second phase! You can find out more on our blog here. Future Ready @ Unity Blackpool Both groups have been busy this month planning their social action campaigns! With the end of term fast approaching they are busy getting their launch events ready and their informative content made! L!STEN ACT CHANGE We are so pleased with how our new programme is going! The group have chosen to focus on the lack of work e

During the May half-term break, we took our fantastic Step Up Peer Mentors to Parrs Wood for a well-deserved celebration of everything they have achieved this year. This group of young people previously took part in our Step Up programme and have now completed their Peer Mentor training, preparing them to take on leadership roles with our new 2026 Step Up cohort. Step Up is our transition programme designed to support young people as they move from Year 6 into Year 7. Startin

On 26th May, Munji and Evie represented PIE at the Adsbridge Family Fun Day, organised by the Adsbridge Youth Connection. The event brought together a range of local organisations and community groups with the aim of engaging young people and families with the services, opportunities, and support available within their local area. By creating a fun, welcoming, and interactive environment, the day encouraged young people to build positive connections with community organisatio

We are excited to officially launch our new Future Ready project with Year 9 students at Unity Academy Blackpool. This project has been made possible thanks to funding from the Commissioners Member of Parliament Fund, and we are incredibly grateful for their support in helping us deliver meaningful opportunities for young people in Blackpool. This cohort already holds a special place for us, as we have been working with many of these young people since their transition from p

It's time for a quick update on our MakeGood & L!STEN Walking group! This group is made up of a variety of young people, but many have come from our MakeGood & L!STEN care-leavers group. We have had a fantastic time with our groups becoming more active through our walks. We’ve visited several parks around Stockport, including Vernon Park, Etherow Country Park, and a number of parks around Cheadle. We have also enjoyed walks around Stockport Town Centre, admiring all the amazi

What have we been up to? Culture Kitchen After being with the group since December, our Culture Kitchen project at St Annes has come to an end! This group has been a pleasure to work with and it's great to see all that they have achieved. TEMA trip to Trafford! To celebrate the end of the project and their hard work, the group from TEMA visited the Trafford Centre where they enjoyed some games of laser tag and a delicious Wing Stop! Unity Blackpool Our Future Ready programme

We kicked off our very first PIE Youth Directors meeting this week, and it was a brilliant start! Our new six-person team from across Stockport brings a fantastic mix of backgrounds and ideas, but they are all united by one goal: making sure young people are listened to, valued, and taken seriously. Their role will be much more than sharing opinions. As Youth Directors, they will help lead and shape PIE’s work, bringing young people’s voices into the decisions that affect th

On Saturday, we proudly hosted our Step Up Family Fun Day at MakeGood, organised and delivered by our incredible Step Up Mentor Group! The event was a wonderful opportunity to welcome our new Step Up 2026 cohort and their families as they prepare for the exciting transition from Year 6 to Year 7. The day was all about helping young people feel supported, confident, and excited about the journey ahead. Our fantastic mentors worked hard to plan and run a variety of fun stalls a

Help shape jobs and opportunities for young people in Stockport Young people in Stockport have told us loud and clear: they want more chances to work, earn money, gain experience, build skills and understand what different jobs are really like. They want opportunities that feel open, fair and accessible. They want better work experience. They want clearer information about jobs, apprenticeships and training. And they want more chances to try things out before making big choic

Three years of L!STEN—where has the time gone? Since launching in April 2023 as a collaboration between PIE and Stockport Council, the L!STEN Youth Alliance has continued to grow as a powerful platform for young people’s voices. Through key annual events like the Youth Summit and Wellbeing Festival, we’ve created spaces for young people to connect, share, and be heard—often in rooms they never imagined stepping into. This year has been especially memorable, from receiving the

What have we been up to? L!STEN ACT CHANGE Engagement sessions - We're recruiting for our new project and have been visiting other local groups to drum up some interest. This month we have been at Groundwork's Women Warriors group and Stockroom. It has been great hearing the views and opinions of young people across Stockport who we don't usually get to meet! Unity Academy Blackpool Our Future Ready project has started this month in Blackpool with 2 groups of Year 9. We have

The Step Up Mentor group have had a fab start to the Step Up Mentor programme so far. The Step Up Mentors are young people who took part in our Step Up transition programme last year and have now volunteered to support our 2026 Step Up cohort as peer mentors. It has been brilliant to see them stepping into leadership roles and embracing the opportunity to support others who will be making the move to secondary school in September. During the first session, the group explored