On Tuesday 13th May, our Harton Academy boys’ wellbeing and aspirations group had a wonderful visit from Dan Lilley, senior researcher at The Centre for Social Justice. Dan is part of a parental participation research project, aimed at re-engaging parents in their child’s education and re-building communication and trust between home and school. We are pleased to be contributing to this research on parental engagement and attendance in schools, helping to inform government policies.
Our wellbeing and aspirations group were amazing at helping Dan to understand the specific challenges we face in the North East. They were particularly interested about life in London and his job in Westminster!
This research will be released in Autumn, which we will be sure to share!


Consett Heritage Project / March 8th, 2024
Jean Simmons - Consett Heritage Podcast
Our volunteer, Maisie Dobson, conducts an interview with her great-grandma, Jean Simmons, aged 96, discussing life and work in Consett during the peak of the Consett Steelworks era. During the conversation, Jean mentions a royal visit to the steelworks, prompting Maisie to enquire about its accuracy. Upon researching, we discovered that the event did indeed occur. Listen in to enjoy this unique recording, offering insights into the social history of Consett.
Youth Social Action / July 8th, 2018
Aspirations and Future Planning / July 8th, 2018
Raising Career Aspirations in Teenage Girls
Our ‘Raising Aspirations’ business event with the group of girls from our most recent Building Self-Belief programme gave everyone involved an invaluable insight into working life.
Consett Heritage Project / February 3rd, 2025
Designing a Steel Statue for Consett
On Tuesday 28th January, we hosted a fundraiser and design session to generate some ideas about what the community want the Ray Lonsdale statue to look like. We were very lucky to have renowned artist Ray Lonsdale with us, who gave a talk about his artistic journey and past designs, and answered all of our questions about his statues and how we should go about creating our own for Consett.