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Education & learning

THERE'S MORE TO EDUCATION than school. Though state schools cover most of the educational basics, there are a lot of charities out there which teach children that there's more to life than exams. And children aren't the only ones who want to learn. Adult-education charities get little attention, but do a lot of valuable work; and there's a host of charities which teach skills to poor people abroad. 		A cute little baby
       
On top of this, some charities help children cope with problems at school, and others help disabled children with their learning. In a field that's generally underfunded, this patchwork of causes can make giving tricky.
 
I want to...
 
 
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   ...contribute to the education of children and young people
 
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   ...help children who've got problems at school
 
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   ...contribute to the education of adults
 
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   ...help with the education of people in a particular area or country
 
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   ...help with a particular educational initiative
 
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 Our education & learning charity listings
 

      ...contribute to the education of children and young people
 There's no umbrella educational charity in England. This means you'll need to decide what type of education you'd like to support. On the one hand, there are some big organizations - like The Duke of Edinburgh's Award and the Woodcraft Folk - which encourage children to lead the outdoors life. On the other, there are more scholarly outfits like the National Children's Orchestra, the National Literacy Trust, which promotes reading. There's a third option, too, which is to help disabled children: the best way to do this is to support NCH.
     
    ...help children who've got problems at school
 Lots of children have a bad time at school, but the government is often unwilling to provide the emotional support they need: it's expensive. This is where the charities come in.

Pyramid works with very shy children to increase their self-confidence; Kidscape tries to stop bullying.
     
    ...contribute to the education of adults
 This is comparatively easy. There are lots of adult-education colleges out there, and those that don't get full funding from the government are often in need of cash. They're also keen for you to volunteer.

The National Institution of Adult Continuing Education promotes adult education in general, and you can become a member to support their activities. The nationwide Workers' Educational Association also wants volunteers to promote its big programme of courses.
     
    ...help with the education of people in a particular area or country
 Supporting education in specific countries is relatively straightforward, but helping a local scheme in Britain is more complex.

If you want to help poor children abroad, then there are lots of charities around doing just that. For example: Kids in Need of Education (India and Nepal) ; Mercy in Action (Philippines) ; and Education for Democracy in South Africa.

Back home, you can help out at local branches of national charities, like the Workers Educational Association in North Wales .
     
    ...help with a particular educational initiative
 There are lots of small charities with narrow educational aims, and so helping a specific project is quite easy.

In Britain, the Prisoners' Education Trust does exactly what it says on the tin, and there are any number of organizations that support children - like the Chicken Shed Theatre Company, the Save the World Club, and the Drake Music Project.

Abroad, innovative schemes like Photovoice trains poor people to be news photographers, letting them influence how the rest of the world sees them.

Our education & learning charity listings