HAWARDEN High School in Deeside, is starting the school year with a huge boost after it was granted £1, 000 from Tesco as part of the retailer’s Stronger Starts scheme.
The grant is in honour of a former pupil at the school, Ruby, winning the regional Tesco Education Award at The King’s Trust and TK Maxx & Homesense Awards earlier this year.
Simon Budgen, Headteacher at Hawarden High School said: “We are delighted to receive this generous grant from Tesco. The funding will make a real difference in enabling us to build on the work we do to support and inspire our pupils.
“Ruby’s success has shone a spotlight on the power of opportunities like these, and we are grateful for this recognition from The King’s Trust, which will help us continue to provide life-changing experiences for young people at our school.”
Hawarden High School is a Delivery Partner of The King’s Trust, and delivers the youth charity’s in-school programme, ‘Achieve’. Achieve is a flexible personal development programme designed to support students, like award-winner Ruby, to succeed in education. Young people work together on practical learning projects, designed to boost confidence as well as improving self-esteem, attainment, behaviour, and attendance.
Regional award-winner Ruby, talking about the impact Achieve has had on her, explained: “Before joining The King’s Trust’s, I was struggling.
“I felt like everyone was against me and I was constantly being excluded from school. I didn’t see a future for myself and started to withdraw and isolate from friends and family. The Achieve programme changed everything.
“I found confidence again started to feel proud of myself – especially when I took part in practical projects like healthy eating and teamwork. That gave me the motivation to improve in other subjects too.
“Now I’m studying travel and tourism full-time and working towards becoming cabin crew – something I never thought would be possible before.
“Winning the Tesco Education Award has meant so much, and I’m proud that my journey will now help support other students back at Hawarden High.”
Since 2018, The King’s Trust have been working with Tesco to empower communities across the UK. Tesco primarily support The Trust’s education work, funding the Achieve programme, and contributing to the Education Hub which provides vital resources on topics like mental health and wellbeing, and enrichment opportunities such as world-of-work store tours. More recently, the partnership has expanded to include in-work support for young people during their first three months of employment, helping them transition successfully from education into the world of work.
Alison Cheung, UK & ROI People Director at Tesco, said: “We’re delighted to be able to support young people with Stronger Starts grants from Tesco which will make a real difference and provide them access to new programmes and facilities.
“We were proud to again partner with The King’s Trust Education Award this year, and massive congratulations to Ruby and all the winners who are all working towards a brighter future.”
Stronger Starts, which Tesco runs in partnership with Groundwork UK, provides grants to help schools and community groups working with children provide nutritious food and healthy activities that support young people’s physical health and mental wellbeing, such as breakfast clubs or snacks, and equipment for healthy activities. Grants have also been awarded to three schools across Scotland, Wales and England.
Since it launched in 2023, the programme has provided over £14 million grants to over 14,000 schools and community groups, supporting more than 3.5 million children.
Youth charity The King’s Trust gives young people the skills and confidence to get their lives on track. Three in four young people helped by The King’s Trust in the past five years have moved into work, training or education.
