Move On Up

About Move On Up

Autumn 2025 Update

“You make each and every participant feel truly valued and supported and make their transition into new services much smoother and more positive than it would otherwise be.” Tutor feedback

We have had an amazing time delivering our Move On Up project. In the last four years we have:

• Worked with 347 participants in 5 partner schools and colleges
• Delivered 351 transitions workshops, using creative, engaging activities to explore skills to face change with confidence
• Trained 26 learning-disabled people to be Buddies and provide peer support to new participants at their services
• Opened 3 new Lifelong Learning Programmes, and supported 34 Move On Up participants to transition into a Lifelong Learning Programme
• Delivered Move On Up training to 27 staff members in schools and colleges
• Signposted to 58 organisations across Yorkshire who offer activities and services for learning-disabled people

We are so proud of every student we have worked with in the last 4 years of Move On Up. Whilst our current funding has come to an end, we are working hard to secure more funding to continue delivering and developing the project to support more young learning-disabled people as they transition out of education and into adult community services.

If you are interested in receiving the Move On Up workshops at your school or college, please get in touch! Our Move On Up training packages are also available to book for your staff to learn how to deliver the Move On Up workshops for their students – you can find more information in the training section below.

You can keep up to date with Move On Up and see photos from the workshops on our Instagram and Facebook.

Move On Up’s Impact

“Students have the opportunity to make choices, express themselves and work together which is building confidence and self-esteem” Tutor feedback

We pride ourselves on creating safe, supportive spaces that enable our participants to express themselves and share how they are feeling in a way that suits them. 

Using our innovative Purple Patch Approach, we use creative, interactive evaluation, feedback and reflection activities to gather meaningful feedback, thoughts and opinions from our participants. Our Confidence Sunflowers enable participants to create a visual representation of their confidence levels, so they can see how they might change over a year. We reimagine the River of Life evaluation tool to take our participants of a journey of reflection across their year, supporting them to contextualise each transition tool within their own lives and feelings.

Consequently, Move On Up helps participants to develop the skills and confidence to share their true feelings, positive or negative, meaning they can feel more empowered to use their voice during times of change.

“Move On Up has given the students lots of time to talk about how they feel and has helped teach them to use their voice” Tutor feedback

Here are some of our favourite quotes from the past 4 years:

One participant told us that their favourite part of Move On Up was “when we’re working together and when it’s fun, because we work as a team and listen together.”

“What you’ve done has really changed my life. I didn’t have much understanding before, well I did but you coming in has really helped me.” Participant

“I get to decide the choice I want to make.” Participant

“I’ve learnt quite a few things, like teamwork and confidence building and all that stuff that I think will really help me moving forward.” Participant

“Move On Up workshops made me feel very confident. It’s really inclusive and they really encourage you to speak out. Yeah, built a load of confidence up in me. […] They encouraged me to speak up more. I wasn’t too fond of sharing my opinions, if you like, before I started doing this, but as soon as I started doing this I thought, actually I can speak up… and if it wasn’t for things like this, I wouldn’t have that confidence.” Participant

“The Move on Up project has been a fantastic experience as a whole. It is so well thought out, well planned and structured. The project puts the students at the centre and they are very fortunate to have accessed this project.” Tutor

“The Move On Up programme has not only benefitted our learners, but their families/carers, providing reassurance all round[…]Furthermore, the Move On Up programme has allowed our educational practitioners to observe different delivery styles and implement them in their own sessions, further benefitting the student and developing our staff, particularly around becoming more innovative practitioners.” Tutor

Move On Up Training

“Hannah and Róisín delivered a fantastic session. It was well planned, with clear focus and engaging activities.” Training feedback

During the third year of Move On Up, we developed and piloted training for school and college staff to deliver Move On Up workshops to their students. We have had more requests for Move On Up than we can accomodate, so we hope that by creating training, we will be able to expand the reach and impact of the project, as well as spreading the use of the Purple Patch Approach.

100% of the school and college staff who have completed the Move On Up training would recommend the training to another teacher.

Our in-person Move On Up Training is now available to book for your school or college!

The Move On Up training has 3 sections:

1. ‘The Purple Patch Approach’: explore the Purple Patch Approach: what it entails, why we use it, and how to use it.

2. ‘The Transitions Toolkit’: explore the tools in the Transitions Toolkit, look at a variety of creative activities to develop the skills, and examine the structure of a Move On Up session.

3. ‘Gathering Thoughts and Opinions’: explore ways for participants to express their thoughts and opinions through creative, multi-sensory methods.

 In each section, we will provide plenty of activity ideas, which will also be distributed in an ‘Activity Bank’ booklet, as well as give your staff the tools to create and develop their own ideas.

If you would like to know more about Move On Up training, please contact Hannah using the form below or the contact details at the end of this page.

“Really enjoyed the training. I like how interactive and practical the session was. I found all the ideas relevant to my class. I will definitely implement them into my teaching.” Training feedback

Move On Up Online Training

Our Move On Up online training includes all of the elements of our in-person training, but in webinar form, meaning you can access it at any time.

Already set up for your online training? Access it here:

Want to know more and sign up for our online training option? Contact Hannah using the details at the bottom of this page!

Move On Up Contacts

If you would like to know more about Move On Up, please get in touch!

Move On Up was funded by the National Lottery Community Fund from September 2021 to July 2025.