The Letisha and Charlene Education Awards

Written by Mohammed A Islam

Wednesday, 25 March 2009 12:44

Developed in memory of Letisha Shakespeare and Charlene Ellis, this project aims to encourage local residents to participate in Higher Education and celebrate learning achievements of Aston Pride residents.  Developed in partnership with the families of the two girls, the Birmingham Mail and Sutton College. The project was piloted in 2006/07 successfully supporting 6 Aston Pride residents with a grant of upto £2000 each, to participate in Higher Education, and realise their potential. . Following the success of the pilot, the project was extended last year furthering its partnerships with the Ladywood Constituency Team, with Nechells, Aston and Ladywood wards all contributing Neighbourhood Renewal Funding (NRF) to the programme, helping to support a further 16 young people with the awards. The project is currently administered by Birmingham Community Foundation. The project steering group includes memberships from Aston Pride, the families, and the Birmingham Mail, and is currently developing a fund raising strategy, which builds on the fund raising success to date and will generate majority of its income through the private sector.