A little-known pocket of Haberdasher activity exists in Chertsey, Surrey, where one of our eight church patronages is.
St Peter’s is a church in the heart of the town centre. It would be easy to assume there isn’t any need for the Company to support young people in and around Chertsey. But dig below the surface and you will soon find students who have typically struggled in mainstream education: young people with additional needs, those at risk of exclusion, and others for whom a more traditional classroom approach has simply never worked.
The Company has supported GASP Motor Project since 2024, funding its programme with young people in Chertsey secondary schools.
The GASP model is deliberately different. Groups of six young people (usually boys) take part in a term-long course, with a 1:3 staff-to-student ratio. They take part in a curriculum that runs from garage health and safety through to four-stroke engines and changing a wheel — all tied to AQA unit awards that go home as real, tangible certificates.
Progress is made at each individual’s pace, with tutors who act as positive role models as much as teachers.
86% of attendees complete between 1 and 5 AQA certificates
80% demonstrate improved teamworking skills
80% show an increase in self-confidence
Many young people arrive at the project disengaged, low in confidence, and unconvinced that achievement is something that happens to people like them. Most leave with certificates, skills, and a different sense of what’s possible.
A small grant of £5,000 from the Company covers the full cost of one term’s course: tutors, the mobile workshop, materials, accreditation, insurance. And its thanks to this contribution that GASP can make a real difference for young people in and around Chertsey.
