Pioneers Project CIC

The Pioneers Project CIC was born in communities in Plymouth where people face disadvantage, and it has grown to serve children, young people, and families who need support across Plymouth and into South East Cornwall and the South Hams in the UK. We value people and their individuality, but we recognise that connection is so important for our mental health and sense of worth. Our support services have been designed to help the participants understand their awesomeness, find comfort in who they are, and connect with other people.

Our services help positively influence people's social, emotional, and mental health by giving them the opportunity to step out of their comfort zone in a safe manner. Our services aspire to engage people who may be struggling to find interests, passion, and hope beyond where they stand in the present. Our services enable us to become a mentor, a coach, a youth worker, a critical friend, an ally, an advocate, a positive role model, and so much more. Our services help our service users become better than they were yesterday, in whatever way they decide.

Support work

We work with schools and local authorities across Plymouth, Devon, Cornwall, and the South Hams to engage those children and young people struggling most with their social, emotional, and mental health. We provide either one-to-one or group support packages that are trauma and mental health-informed, holistic in nature, and help participants form trusting, therapeutic relationships with adults outside of their inner circle.

Our aim is to help young people grow in confidence, self-esteem, and self-worth so, if needed, they can access more specialist support from more specialist services, including our partners, which include an occupational therapist who specialises in sensory intervention and sensory profiling work with young people; a behavioural therapist who specialises in 'Theraplay' with extensive experience of working with looked-after children and young people or those who've been adopted; and a speech and language therapist with experience of working with complex children and young people, particularly those on the autistic spectrum.

We take a long-term approach to this work and pride ourselves on being able to see young people within 6 weeks of the initial inquiry, meaning no long waiting list for intervention with those most in need.

Community work

The focus of our community work is to build assets and services that benefit a wide audience, from babies to the elderly, helping to create lasting connections between those who access our services. This intergenerational approach helps to reduce isolation, improve community connectedness, and foster a sense of belonging where people live.

We deliver a community café supported by Starbucks, M&S, Tesco, and Lidl. We are rejuvenating a community allotment space, helping it to become a thriving outdoor learning space for the whole community. We are delivering social action projects for young people in the community where they live.

We are now working hard to start the renovation of the Bull Point Barracks site in Barne Barton, with the ambition of turning it into a thriving hub to help people's social, emotional, and mental health.

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