Overview

Our mission is to empower and raise the aspirations of young people in the UK and rural India who have different lives, circumstances and challenges and bring them together through global citizenship. RISE has supported over one thousand young people through our innovative Yearn to Learn (India) and ROAR Challenge (UK) education projects. Yearn to Learn is RISE’s free literacy programme for first generation learners and those most at risk of dropping out of school with their literacy in rural West Bengal, where 46% of 10-year-olds are at least 3 years behind their expected reading level. After 8 years of building RISE’s capability to teach literacy, we expanded our facilities in 2019 to teach up to 300 students at our school in Krishnagar. However Covid-19 has been devastating and our school remains closed. We have introduced distance learning online, where possible, with paper-based modules to ensure that our students can keep learning during the crisis. We now also aim to provide a monthly food pack for our students so that they have enough calories and nutrients to be able to keep learning. The ROAR (Reach Out And Rise) Challenge is a programme of workshops that inspires UK students to set up their own social enterprise to support Yearn to Learn students in India, by establishing an intercultural partnership that strengthens their role as global citizens. In India, RISE supports children in rural communities who face significant challenges such as lack of food, lack of shelter, lack of clothes, child labour and child marriage; RISE is working amidst these issues to enable the hopes and dreams of young people and improve their quality of life. Students in the UK who have completed the ROAR Challenge programme are more aware of global issues from building relationships with peers in India; 93% of the students surveyed felt more empowered to help others after RISE had worked with them. Come, join our movement - get in touch at www.facebook.com/RISEprojects.