I was delighted to visit the Red Balloon Learner Centre in Braintree today. For those that do not know Red Balloon; it is a charity founded by Dr Carrie Herbert MBE to help recover bullied children that can no longer attend school.
Currently the charity has Learner Centres in London, Reading, Norwich, Cambridge and Braintree, They also provide ‘Red Balloon of the Air’ which is an on-line environment for those areas not covered by a Red Balloon or where there is not a full physical Learner Centre.
What struck me about attending is how young people can be helped back into mainstream education. Indeed RB over the last 18 years has seen 95% of their students going back to School.
It always amazes me how little support the 16,000 (this is a conservative figure with a small c) children out of education receive. This is why I have drafted a ‘Charter for bullied children‘ which should be implemented nationally.
For those that want to learn more about Red Balloon please www.redballoonlearner.co.uk there is also a charity event on December 11th www.redballoonlearner.co.uk/events/2014/12/sophie-bevan-sings
