CLOWDER Start-up Project

Aim

The initial donations will go toward our startup costs, some of them being: the website, DBS checks, mobile contract and lots more!

OUR AIM

We are a group of educators (teachers, tutors and parents) whose goal is to convert a double decker bus into a mobile classroom (see below). We aim to visit disadvantaged primary-age children and offer free high-quality professional face-to-face tuition within their community.

RESEARCH

Our beneficiaries include disadvantaged children and their families. Whilst the National Tutoring Programme (NTP) hoped to reach 250,000 for the 2021/22 academic year[1], the subsidised tuition they offer has tapered off and may continue to do so to just 10% by 2023-24 - meaning disadvantaged children will once again be left without tuition[2]. Additionally, according to the Child Poverty Action Group there are 4.3 million children living in poverty in the UK, some of which would undoubtedly benefit from our services[3].

More locally, according to the data request submitted by Class Divide in 2019 (and used in The Crew Club infographic below) 32% of children in Whitehawk will gain a GCSE grade 4-9 in English and Maths compared to 68% of children in Brighton & Hove. Furthermore, according to Class Divide’s website, children in East Brighton gained an average score (Attainment 8) of 32.2 in 2019 compared to 47.6 for young people in the rest of Brighton and Hove[4].

That said, although we are crowdfunding for our charity to establish itself in Brighton & Hove we are not limiting ourselves to the South Coast. We do hope to expand to one day have a fleet of buses nationally; wherever there is a need.

COSTS

We estimate our start-up costs for the first year to include but not limited to:

1) £84 - The creation of a website will require hosting a domain name. Costs can vary but could be as little as £6 per month (including VAT) and domain re-registration costs of £12 per year.

2) £416 - DBS checks for our trustees (x6) and co-founders (x2). Again, DBS checks vary but we have found an umbrella company that charges a fee of £52  per person.

3) £120 - A mobile contract is required to effectively communicate with the public.

Any additional money crowdfunded will be used for the general use by the charity for the public good.

REFERENCES:

1 - Department for Education (2020). How the National Tutoring Programme can help students. Available at: https://dfemedia.blog.gov.uk/2020/12/08/how-the-national-tutoring-programme-can-help-students/

2 - Carr, J. (2021). National Tutoring Programme: Schools could pay 90% of session costs within three years as DfE ‘tapers’ subsidies. Available at:

https://schoolsweek.co.uk/national-tutoring-programme-schools-could-pay-90-of-session-costs-within-three-years-as-dfe-tapers-subsidies/

3 - Child Poverty Action Group (2021). Child Poverty Facts And Figures. Available at: https://cpag.org.uk/child-poverty/child-poverty-facts-and-figures

4 - Class Divide Campaign (2021). Facts. Available at: https://www.classdivide.co.uk/about-the-campaign

This project successfully funded on 16th April 2022