“When I know it’s a bus day I’m happy to come to school. I say to myself ‘yes it’s a bus day’. I get up early on a bus day.” AT The Bus student
Our work this year There is a crisis in children's mental health. One in five children and young people have a probable mental health disorder and many struggle to engage in school (NHS Digital, Nov 2023). The children and young people who attend AT The Bus support face daily challenges to their emotional wellbeing. The crisis in children’s mental health means the demand for provision continues to grow and we are working hard to support more children and young people than ever before. This year AT The Bus will provide 210 programmes to 1,000 children from 13 schools in Oxfordshire and London. The Oxford Academy secondary school, Queens Park and Ark Brunel primary schools joined us in September and further primary schools in Tower Hamlets and Kensington & Chelsea will be coming on board in January 2025. Our ambition to reach more children and young people remains unchanged, however there is no doubt that the funding environment for charities is tougher than ever, so we are working incredibly hard to raise an additional £250,000 of income this year to enable ongoing growth. We are so appreciative of the many supporters who have enabled AT The Bus to expand from the seed of an idea around a kitchen table to where we are today. We continue to rely on the generosity of kind donors who believe in our work. All donations, of any size, are gratefully received and carefully spent in order to maximise their impact. Our new business plan sets out our future plans and we would be delighted to share this with anybody who might be interested in investing in a charity that has big ambitions. Please do be in touch on info@atthebus.org.uk if you would like a copy! |
“AT The Bus is at the centre of our school. Using creativity the team supports students to learn to develop meaningful relationships and feel proud of what they are able to achieve.Its impact ripples through the whole school community.” Lyndsey Caldwell, Headteacher Greyfriars Catholic School, Oxford “AT The Bus facilitators create an inclusive and safe environment that the children thrive in. The structure of the sessions encourages strong relationships and allows space for the children to explore feelings and challenges safely through creative practice.” Maria Benitez, Delivery Partner Manager, All Child (commissioner of AT The Bus provision to 5 schools in the West London area since 2022) |
New studio at The Oxford Academy We are delighted to have established a new partnership with The Oxford Academy: a large secondary school with over 1,100 students, serving the socially disadvantaged areas of Rose Hill and Blackbird Leys in Oxford. 46% of pupils are eligible for free school meals, 25% speak English as their second language, and 51% have at least one parent who was born overseas. “I am keen for AT The Bus to support students who struggle to attend or engage fully with school. Last year our attendance figure was only 84%. The cohort that AT The Bus will work with struggle with issues such as poor self-esteem and wellbeing, low attendance and engagement in learning.” Nora Ward, Headteacher We are currently working two days per week with 36 students and will be extending provision to three days from January. We have set up a new studio; this is an inspiring and safe space that is both part of school and very different to the usual school infrastructure. As well as creating beautiful artwork, students spend time talking and reading books together in the sofa area and share food and drink at the dining table. “The first project was ’self-portrait clocks’. Old vinyl records sourced from charity shops were transformed into beautiful works of art exploring the theme of identity, that also serve as functioning clocks for students to take home. Now, we are transforming flat-packed stools, including building these together – a task that has enabled a wonderful collaborative atmosphere. We have been reading books about and by the pop art artist Keith Haring, and looking at colour, pattern and character to inspire their designs.” Alice Usiskin, AT The Bus manager  |
Double the difference for AT The Bus with the Big Give Christmas Challenge We are once again taking part in the Big Give Christmas Challenge, the UK’s largest match-funded campaign and an important annual fundraiser for AT The Bus. For one week from midday 3rd December all online donations will be doubled, enabling us to support more children and young people in need. It costs £400 for a child to attend AT the Bus for a school term. This campaign we want to raise £20,000 giving 50 children a term of weekly sessions, so they can build self-esteem, resilience and independence through the power of art. We are delighted to have received championship support from the Childhood Trust for a second year meaning that every £1 you give is worth £2. Please visit our website or follow at_the_bus on instagram for updates on our campaign. |
New website With generous support from Oxfordshire Community Foundation and the Clothworkers Foundation we have spent the past few months progressing a digital infrastructure project. This has included a new CRM system and the development of a new website that was launched last week. We are grateful to Studio Ferg and Frank + Franks for the design and build of the new website. Please take look at the website www.atthebus.org.uk. The next stage of our digital work is to implement a system to support case management to streamline the referral process for schools. Christmas Pop-Up Shop on Broad Street in Central Oxford In further news and with the support of Oxford City Council we are delighted to be opening Oxford’s very first charity Christmas pop up shop in a beautiful space at the heart of Oxford on Broad Street. As AT The Bus founder and co-CEO Juli Beattie explains: “I had the ambitious idea to ask Oxford city council if they had a unit that AT The Bus could set up as a pop up shop in the pre-Christmas period. It never occurred to me that they would say yes. But they did!” Open from 23 November to 6 December the pop up shop will be displaying children's artwork and selling AT The Bus merchandise, plus a curated selection of beautiful homewares from Louisa Maybury Home with a % donation being made to AT The Bus. Please do come along and support us whilst doing your Christmas shopping!  Finally… our thanks We would like to express our very great thanks to Lisa Swerling, Ralph Lazar and daughter Mila Lazar, for their recent art exhibition at The North Wall, Oxford in support of AT The Bus. It was a joy to experience the space and artworks that they had created and we loved welcoming many friends of the charity to the private event on 4th November.  |