Home Community Merseyside education programme receives £5.65 million grant

Merseyside education programme receives £5.65 million grant

9th December 2025

123

The programme has helped to significantly improve literacy rates, helping to set young people up for future success (photo: Steve Morgan Foundation)

A charity that supports people in deprived areas of Merseyside has received £5.65 million grant.

Cradle to Career is a programme run by the Right to Succeed charity which aims to improve education in the most deprived areas of Merseyside.

It began in North Birkenhead in 2019 and has been credited with helping to improve literacy in the area.

The grant was awarded by the Steve Morgan Foundation, which provides funding and support to charities.

Graeme Duncan the CEO of Right to Succeed said: “We are very, very proud of what those communities are achieving and what it’s led to is the success in North Birkenhead led to the whole thing scaling across Liverpool City region.

“So we’re now in a community in each of the six local authorities in there.”

He added: “A very big focus has been literacy because what we often see in communities that have been left behind is very significant reading age gaps.

“And the problem with reading age gaps is that is the way by which children access the curriculum.

“If you can’t read what is being presented to you in a lesson, you’re not taking in that lesson. So it’s best described as the master skill of education.”

Since the programme began there has been a 50% increase in children reaching their highest reading ability.

Paul Oneil is the development director at the Steve Morgan Foundation.

He said: “Cradle to Career is a multi-partner programme that started in North Birkenhead that today has transformed lives by boosting children’s literacy standards, supporting families, changing attitudes, increasing collaboration in the area and with all of that further developing kind of local pride within the community.

“The 5.65 million additional funding are to support the ongoing delivery and sustainability planning across the communities in the six areas to to 2031 and and you know focusing on those really key themes around improving education, access to provision and increasing employment opportunities in those areas.”