MEaP 2025 End of Year Review

As we reflect on 2025, MEaP (Making Education a Priority) has reached new heights in its mission to empower the Manchester community through education and research. This year has been defined by the successful integration of our academic research arm, the expansion of our digital employability initiatives, and a continued commitment to providing high-calibre support for our students.

Strategic Leadership and Organisational Growth

Following the structural foundations laid in 2024, our leadership team – including Mr Henry Ngawoofah, Dr Esther Oludipe, Mrs Jumoke Quadri, and Dr Ornette D Clennon – has steered the organisation toward greater operational efficiency. This year saw a significant focus on our MaCTRI (MEaP Academy Community Training and Research Institute) branch, bridging the gap between community activism and academic rigour. We also continued our vital partnerships with Young Manchester and the Manchester Supplementary Schools Partnership (MSSP), ensuring our reach remains deep-seated within the local youth and play sectors. This year also sees a number of funders renewing their support with us after the successful outcomes of our 2024 collaborations.

Academic Excellence: Twilight Academy and Easter Intensives

The MEaP Twilight Academy remains the cornerstone of our academic support. In April 2025, we celebrated the success of our Easter Intensives Revision Programme. This hybrid model combined three days of expert-led online tuition with two days of intensive on-site mock exams hosted by our consortium partner, GIFT (Grace Incorporation Faith Trust).

Designed specifically for Year 10 and 11 students, the programme boosted both academic skills and exam confidence, maintaining our high standards of student retention and achievement. Furthermore, our A-Level tuition programme has continued to flourish, providing one-to-one support that helps local students secure placements at top-tier universities.

MaCTRI Global Research and Summer Schools

2025 was a breakthrough year for our research institute. The MaCTRI Summer School 2025 served as a hub for the International Decolonial Exchange Project, bringing together global scholars to discuss inclusive education. A highlight of our research output this year was the comparative study on Computer Science Curricula in England and Brazil, which explored how digital literacy can be made more accessible and culturally relevant to diverse learners.

Digital Inclusion, Employability and Wellbeing: TECHWELL 2025

Building on the success of previous years, the TECHWELL 2025 programme provided free employability, digital and health and wellbeing skills training to the Manchester community to strengthen in-demand digital skills, improve confidence and resilience and progress towards their chosen career. In collaboration with the WEA, GMCA and the Government funds, we offered 3 strands focusing on different target audiences: a Bootcamp version for all 16+ with ESOL level 1+, a pre & ESOL focusing on non-native with very basic to no English speaking skills, and a strand specifically funded by Youth Futures Foundation and focusing on digital and creative tech for young people 16-24 years old providing real-world experience to help young people kickstart careers in Manchester’s growing tech sector. This completed our pilot phrase (Evidence in Action phase 1) ready to put the full programme in place for 2026. We strengthened our collaborations with Ingeus, Elevate Young Minds, and 3E Web Media as well as adding a new partner, PthFndr, in order to deliver the FREE Emploaybility project TECHWELL 2025 to 100 participants.

We have also welcomed MMU interns, offering them new work opportunities calibrated to their career goals, with great outcomes and deliverables at the end of the project.

Community Outreach and Youth Empowerment

Our commitment to the North and East (through Nurturing Foundations) and Levenshulme/Longsight/Gorton (through Highway Hope) areas of Manchester remains steadfast. Through the Million Hours Fund, we expanded our Youth Outreach project, offering diversionary activities and mentoring to at-risk young people. (??The Youth-Led Community Safety Project continued to empower our students to take leadership roles in making their neighbourhoods safer and more inclusive.??)

As part of youth employment, the Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) provision was given further review. Under the dedicated leadership of MEaP Twilight Academy’s Head of SEND and Behavioural Management, MEaP has refined its “whole child” approach. We have strengthened our integration of bespoke support for learners with SEND and EAL (English as an Additional Language), ensuring that cultural heritage is used as a tool for engagement rather than a barrier to attainment.

Our directors also continue to make greater marks in the community

Dr Ornette D Clennon, Head of MEaP Academy Community Training & Research Institute (MaCTRI) and the MEaP Academy Scholars’ Publishing Programme (MaSPP)

• Listed as a Judge at the Future Ed Award 2025, an Award Ecosystem for Policy and Culture Change within the UK Education System. The Future ED Awards 2025 honours professionals of Black African and Caribbean heritage and their allies across the education sector.
• Contributed to international policy development at the United Nations Permanent Forum on People of African Descent’s Third Session Meeting in Geneva.
• Recommendation for greater recognition of supplementary education and the need for supplementary teacher training was accepted by the Forum.

Dr Esther Oludipe has been busy celebrating Highway Hope 12 Years anniversary transforming lives and restoring hope and what an occasion and an impact it has been.

Looking Ahead

As we move toward 2026, MEaP remains a beacon of community-led educational excellence. We are looking forward to welcoming new interns and helping them towards their careers, getting into the thick of Evidence in Action phase 2 helping young people become more employable in digital and creative tech and continuing to help with the social inclusion, support and academic excellence of individuals in our community. With sustainable funding and a robust network of partners, we are prepared to continue “Making Education a Priority” for every individual in our Manchester communities.