9.5 Months. Three Strands. One Glow-Up.
What would it look like if we taught young people to build a business, make money, and create wealth, while also showing them how to cook, get a stain out of a shirt, hold their own in a workplace, and stand out in a competitive market when they might have the grades everyone else does? told
Nspire does just that. Using our lived and professional experience, we built the Bee-coming Curriculum, applied across every Nspire strand a Bee can choose, in a subject area they actually care about. This generation isn’t like the ones before it. They’re not signing up to sit in jobs they hate for thirty years just to keep the lights on, and honestly, we respect that. So our job is to make sure they’ve got the skill, the knowledge, and the confidence to go after everything they want, on their own terms, but with a plan in place and a system for overcoming challenges.
Pick Your Strand
Beat Statement – Music & Dance
14 – 25
We all know a young person who really loves music or dance, the one drumming on the table, always writing lyrics.
The Beat Statement is for Bees with a genuine interest in the music industry: songwriting, rapping, singing, dance, and performance. This strand teaches them how the industry actually works, how to get started, how to monetise their talent, what other roles exist beyond the spotlight, and how to promote themselves or others.
Boss Experience – Beauty and Business
14 – 25
Do you support a young person who’s always doing their own or their friends’ makeup? Or just keeps saying they want to run their own thing one day. The Boss Experience is for Bees with an interest in beauty, cosmetics, product creation, skincare, haircare, and the business in general.
This strand teaches them how the industry actually works, how to formulate and safely produce a product, and how to start, run, price, and scale a business around it.
Bee Inked – Tattooing & Personal Branding
14 – 25
How many times have you heard a young person talking about tattoos. Maybe their always doodling on their arms or have a deep interest in art. Bee Inked is for Bees with a interest in tattooing, from design and art style to technique.
This strand teaches them how the industry works, how to build technical skills safely, the importance of hygiene, and how the apprenticeship route works for older Bees.
What Every Bee Walks Away With
Whichever strand you pick, the programme builds towards 3 qualifications in one journey, and Bees build a portfolio at the same time.
Qualifications With Real Weight Forget a participation certificate. Through our City & Guilds and ILM Approved Centre status (Centre 075135), every Bee earns the Level 1 Award in Personal and Social Skills, the Level 2 Award in Employability Skills, and a Level 3 Extended Project Qualification worth up to 28 UCAS points, qualifications that can open doors.
Mentors Consistent, trauma-informed mentoring throughout the journey, not a one-off workshop and a goodbye.
A Showcase Selling at a market stall. A studio recording. A live performance with their name on it, for a real audience.
The Bee-coming Curriculum
This is the engine behind every strand. Built on lived and professional experience, the Bee-coming Curriculum moves every Bee through three stages: Find, Build, Become.
Find – Bees explore their strand, discover what they’re actually good at, and figure out where their interest could go.
Build – Bees put it into practice, developing the real technical skill and industry knowledge that strand demands.
Become – Bees take what they’ve built and put it out into the world, qualification in hand, ready for what’s next.
Every stage is mapped to the Skills Builder Universal Framework, so the employability skills Bees are developing along the way, things like teamwork, problem solving, and communication, are tracked and recognised, alongside the qualification.
Why Nspire Matters
A care-experienced young person is far more likely to end up NEET, not in education, employment, or training, than almost any other group in the country, and this is not because they’re not capable.
We know what that feels like, because some of us lived it. Growing up in care, growing up estranged, growing up being told what you’ll probably never be before anyone bothered to ask what you actually wanted.
Timeline
September – July (9.5 months)
- Weekly after-school sessions (1x/week)
- Intensive support during school holidays and half-terms
- Final project delivery and celebration event in July
- Summer Holiday Celebration Trip
Who Can Join?
Nspire is built for young people aged 14+ who are care-experienced, estranged from family, at risk of incarceration, or facing other significant barriers. We welcome referrals from schools, virtual schools, youth workers, social workers, and PRUs, as well as direct applications from young people themselves.
There’s no cost to the young person or carer, and support with transport and access needs is available.
How To Apply
Step 1: Complete the short application form, available online or through a referral partner.
Step 2: We’ll invite you for an informal introduction call or meeting.
Step 3: If it’s a good fit, you’re in the Hive.
Have Questions?
Want to explore how Nspire could work for a young person in your care, your school, or your setting? Get in touch and a member of the team will be back to you within 3 working days.