Top 10 Moments from 10 Years of Right to Succeed
- Ophelia Parish
- Oct 28
- 6 min read
Over the past 10 years, we’ve had the privilege of sharing countless incredible moments with our communities and partners. As we celebrate a decade of impact, we’re taking a trip down memory lane to highlight 10 of our most memorable milestones.
The Magic Sheep Procession - North Birkenhead 2023
The Magic Sheep Procession at Birkenhead Park brought together creativity, community, and celebration, showcasing the talents and diversity of children and young people from Birkenhead’s North End.
Held in July 2023, the event was the culmination of weeks of community workshops led by Liverpool-based electro-pop trio Stealing Sheep, who worked with local children, families, and artists to create costumes, flags, and performances. The community choir from the St James Centre also joined in, preparing a special piece with vocal coach Jennifer Johns to perform along the procession route.
The day featured a lively walking parade with the Glam-A-Ram-Bam Marching Band, performances from local artists, and participation from more than 200 community members.
Centred on the theme of collectivity, the event celebrated how people and organisations across North Birkenhead have come together to drive lasting, positive change.
Funding Halton Primary school's first library
Currently, one in seven state primary schools across the UK have no library space, which increases to one in four in more disadvantaged areas
Through our Halton Lea Cradle to Career programmes, we strove to change that and funded Hallwood Park Primary’s first school library. It has created a space which is inviting and inspires the children to want to read. It proves that resources are crucial to ignite a love of reading in children.
“Having the funding to provide the children of Hallwood Park with such a wonderful space has been transformational to our school and the children we serve,” said Gemma Snell, interim head teacher at Hallwood Park Primary School.
“Without this funding, there is no way we could have created a space which is inviting and inspires the children to want to read.
“As soon as the children entered the room, we heard ‘I just want to read’ – what more can we say?
“It proves that resources are crucial to ignite a love of reading in children, and Cradle to Career has allowed us to make a difference to the children of Hallwood Park.”
Central Great Yarmouth Cafe Collaboration: 2025
The Café Collaboration emerged through the NR Thirty network to tackle anti-social behaviour hotspots in the town. Partnering with the Targeted Youth Support Service (TYSS) and Mancroft Advice Project (MAP), the initiative introduced twice-weekly evening sessions in St George’s Park, a key community space.
Across 24 sessions, the project engaged over 200 young people, mainly aged 14–16, from diverse backgrounds. Local businesses have reported a significant reduction in anti-social behaviour, crediting the project’s proactive approach and youth involvement in problem-solving.
The initiative also saw 16 hard-to-reach young people transition into regular participation in NRThirty activities and created new pathways for signposting to specialist support.
This is a brilliant example of collaborative working, showing the real impact organisations can achieve when they join forces for the community.
North Birkenhead Mural: 2021
In July 2021, the Cradle to Career Community Working Group in North Birkenhead commissioned a new history mural, now proudly displayed on the side of the St James Centre on Laird Street.
Featuring key moments from the area’s rich history, including the opening of Lees Tapestries, the mural serves as a powerful tribute to the stories, heritage, and people that define North Birkenhead.
Liverpool City Region Mayor granted multi-millon-pound investment to Cradle to Career
Following the success of our flagship North Birkenhead Cradle to Career programme over the last three years, Liverpool City Region Mayor, Steve Rotheram granted funding of £5.25m to extend the programme across LCR.
Since then, we have launched delivery programmes in Halton Lea, Northwood, Linacre, Parr and Speke, working with communities and local partners to deliver key workstreams supporting children and young people.
This expansion is a powerful testament to what can be achieved through a shared vision and common agenda. It reflects the commitment of our incredible partners, communities, and decision-makers who have come together with a collective determination to deliver meaningful change. It shows how investing in community-led, place-based approaches can be scaled to create lasting, transformative impact across an entire region.
Reading the Future - ProBono Economics Report: 2025
Earlier this year, we commissioned Pro Bono Economics to produce Reading the Future: The impact of literacy support on disadvantaged pupils’ GCSE grades and beyond. The report assessed the return on investment of our Key Stage 3 Literacy Programmes in Blackpool and North Birkenhead Cradle to Career, analysing data from 5,082 pupils (2018–2023) to measure future earnings, social value, and economic impact.
The findings highlighted the powerful benefits of sustained literacy support and called for continued investment and stronger data collection to maximise long-term impact.
This milestone ranks among our Top 10 of the decade as it offers robust, evidence-based insight into the transformative impact of our programmes, reinforcing the imperative need for strategic investment in children’s literacy across the nation.
The Big Education Conversation - Blackpool
In November 2022, the first Big Education Conversation (BEC), hosted by Big Change, Right to Succeed, and Merlin Entertainments, took place at the iconic Blackpool Tower, bringing together 200 young people from schools across Blackpool. Through workshops and discussions with education partners, youth advisors, and members of the Youth Parliament, students explored how to improve employment and training opportunities, in sessions led by the Blackpool Youth Council.
Following its success, the second BEC was held in November 2023 at Montgomery Academy, featuring a Q&A with Shadow Secretary for Education, Bridget Phillipson. The event strengthened youth voices in shaping education and helped expand the Youth Advisor team, who now work with local partners to tackle youth unemployment and drive lasting change in learning and opportunity across Blackpool.
Child Criminal Exploitation Campaign: Cradle to Career North Birkenhead 2023
In 2023, Cradle to Career North Birkenhead and its partners launched a Child Criminal Exploitation awareness campaign, co-designed by Young Leaders and The Guide Liverpool. The young people of North Birkenhead created two posters and a short video, which they scripted and performed themselves, to help parents and young people recognise the signs of exploitation and learn where to find support.
The campaign followed the final strand of CCE training, delivered by PACE at the Gautby Road Centre, attended by parents and local professionals. Participants found the training highly informative, with 19 attendees reporting increased confidence in spotting signs of exploitation and all confirming they now know how to access help.
This campaign shows the incredible impact of youth-led collaboration and what happens when young people are empowered to drive change in their communities.
Launch of Blackpool Connected Futures
In 2024, we launched the Blackpool Connected Futures programme, a collaborative effort between Youth Futures Foundation, the Blackpool Partnership, Blackpool Council, local schools, and other community organisations.
Connected Futures has enabled us to leverage the strengths of the Blackpool community, by working with organisations and young people across the area, to create impactful local solutions that will help foster a thriving youth employment landscape.
The launch event highlighted the programme’s three-year plan, which sought to improve educational attainment, employment opportunities, and training outcomes for young people across the town, and demonstrated the power of collective action in driving lasting impact.
Bringing Cradle to Career to the West Midlands
A major milestone in our journey came in 2025, when Right to Succeed joined forces with the West Midlands Combined Authority and local councils to launch the Cradle to Career approach across the region. Starting in the communities of Blakenall (Walsall) and Bordesley Green (East Birmingham), the programme empowers local people to define and drive the change they want for their children and young people.
Building on the success of our work in the Liverpool City Region, this expansion shows how collective action can be replicated to create lasting impact. With four more communities set to join in 2026, it marks an exciting step toward transforming outcomes for even more children across the country.
As we look back on ten years of Right to Succeed, we’re proud of how far we’ve come. Every milestone has been driven by the power of collaboration; communities coming together, local systems aligning, and partners sharing a belief that where you live should never define your future. As we step into the next decade, we remain committed to learning, growing, and driving collective change so that every child, in every community, has the opportunity to succeed.