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

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. In partnership with ourselves, MakeGood, Friendly Fridays, Marbury Road Edible Garden and Starting Point Community Learning Partnership we ran 1 day work experience at each organisation offering a range of activities such as: DIY, supporting people in the community with technology questions and attending Friendl

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

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 pilot 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 o

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

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 a pilot programme of meaningful work experience for every young person in the borough. From the first conversation to th

On Saturday, some of the Make Good & Listen group enjoyed a lovely outdoor walk with friends! We headed to White Peak Alpaca Farm in Knutsford for a special activity – Alpaca Walking. Before meeting the alpacas, we stopped off at the cosy pub next door for a quick snack and drink. Then it was time to meet our fluffy walking partners! We were introduced to the alpacas, had chance to take some very cute photos, and then set off on our walk. The group guided the alpacas around t