IntoUniversity Lifeline

The classroom.

It's a place where, for many, dreams are born,

passions realised,

and where we feel the excitement of learning new things.

And it's also the place where, at some point,

we may have thought, "I can be anything I want."

When I grow up, I want to be an astronaut.

When I grow up, I want to be a scientist.

Teacher.

A surgeon.

A CEO.

And there's a charity called IntoUniversity,

working hard to try and make some of these aspirations come true.

Growing up, when it came to my education, I was very lucky.

My parents were school teachers and I was encouraged

and supported and the path to university was shown to me.

But even in this day and age, for many children in Britain,

it can be a very different story.

I came to the UK at the age of nine months.

And since then, I've just been born and bred in East London.

This is Nahyan.

He's 19 years old and lives with his family in Tower Hamlets,

a borough which in recent years has seen many changes,

but is still classed as one of the most deprived in the capital.

Growing up in East London has definitely been tough.

When I was young, we were kind of like deprived of opportunities.

I've not always enjoyed school and learning, you know.

Within the area that I've been brought up in,

if you were good at school then you would be bullied.

At the age of 14 or 15,

I was messing with the wrong type of group, missing school.

There was definitely that risk of going through the wrong way of life.

No skills, no hope, no future.

That's the stark reality of how some kids can feel,

growing up in modern Britain.

But IntoUniversity are working at grassroots level

in communities around the country so that every child,

no matter what their circumstance or background,

has the chance to dream big.

I wanted something bigger for myself.

I didn't really want to just follow the crowd.

My mum suggested IntoUniversity.

It's tested me in completely different ways.

And that's what's led me to be open-minded about...

Not just about life,

but about opportunities that are ahead of me too.

Since it began 15 years ago, IntoUniversity has opened

22 learning centres across seven cities.

The charity sows the seeds early on that higher education

is a possibility and, to date, has helped transform the futures

of 50,000 pupils.

I was getting good marks on my homework

and it was really helping me.

Then my dad was like, "University is an option for you now,

"you can go on to university and do well for yourself."

It's the first time that he's like given me a kiss on the cheek,

after getting my results.

I guess he's proud to have a son to be the first one in the family

to make something that was out of reach possible.

IntoUniversity is an extremely inclusive charity

and is quite unique, in terms of that we work

with every child, wherever there is a need.

It seems to me grossly unfair that any young person

would not be able to make an informed decision

about what they want to do with their life.

And that's where we can support those kind of conversations,

where we need to talk about aspiration and achievement.

The charity offers study weeks and workshops to schools.

There are academic support sessions,

where children can get help with their homework,

and there's a mentoring scheme where university and corporate volunteers

are paired with young people to help inspire the next generation.

One of the best experiences that IntoUniversity has given me

was being paired with a university student who was my mentor.

I never had someone to look up to,

like a big brother or anything like that.

But Gabriel was someone to guide me, someone to help me,

someone to support me.

Nahyan's success is proof of how much IntoUniversity

can do for a young person.

But there are still thousands of young people out there

who need support from the charity

so that they too can build towards a successful future.

This centre in Brighton opened in 2014

and since then has helped nearly 2,000 children from the local area.

Children like Harry and Annie,

who've been attending for the last two years.

Good lad. Hairband for you. Come on then.

'Harry is my eldest. He's 11 years old.

'He is football mad.'

Annie is eight and they couldn't be more different.

They complement each other quite well.

IntoUniversity today, we're doing rollercoasters,

so it'll be exciting.

Yeah, I'm really excited.

I and the kids' father split up about six or seven years ago.

They spend at least a couple of nights a week at their dad's.

Harry understands that I'm a single parent.

He understands that there is a day in the month which is payday,

and the week before that,

you don't ask for anything because I just can't do it.

I don't ever want to say no to them because money's the issue.

And, unfortunately, that does come up.

In an ideal world,

I would maybe have a part-time job or I'd be a stay-at-home mum,

get them to school, and I'd pick them up,

and then have time with them in the afternoon and do their homework.

Unfortunately, it isn't an ideal world and I have to work.

Since coming to the charity,

Annie's grades have improved dramatically

and Harry has become a more confident young man.

IntoUniversity has helped me.

It's boosted my confidence in talking

and communicating to other people.

My worst subject was maths because I found it really tricky.

And now it's my favourite subject

because IntoUniversity have always helped me.

They take the time and they explain

what the problem is and they teach her obviously how to do it

and there's more time there than maybe in the classroom

and certainly what I have at home.

I would have absolutely loved to have gone to university

and it was just never an option.

With Harry and Annie, I'm very determined,

no matter where I am today, the answer's not going to be no

because there isn't going to be the money.

Here we go, here we go! Yay!

University isn't right for absolutely everyone,

but it is right for a lot of people

who have no idea how to access university.

I'm ecstatically proud of Harry and Annie.

I've been thinking about where they were when they first started

and I can't stop grinning, thinking of them now.

I couldn't have imagined them improving

so much over the period of time that's elapsed.

They keep impressing me, they keep making me proud.

Hello, Ama. How are you?

Now studying at Goldsmiths, University of London,

Nahyan has decided to give back

and become an IntoUniversity mentor himself.

It has almost been like a circle for me, really,

because I've started off as this 14-year-old child

that didn't really know where he wanted to go,

but being given access to a variety of opportunities,

it's given me the chance to give back and help out younger people.

IntoUniversity has opened lots of doors for me

and I feel really happy coming.

I feel like they've helped me a lot to get my hopes up a bit

and just to believe in myself.

Knowing that there's a charity like IntoUniversity out there

should give us hope.

Education is something we're lucky enough to have at our fingertips,

but we shouldn't take it for granted.

The truth is, it's not always considered an option.

Today's children are tomorrow's doctors,

teachers, entrepreneurs, but sometimes,

they need your help to get there.

If you'd like to make a difference to the life of a young person,

then please make a donation now.

To give by phone, call...

Calls are free from mobiles and landlines.

Texts cost £10, plus your standard network message charge

and the whole £10 goes to IntoUniversity.

For full terms and conditions, or to make a donation online,

visit the Lifeline website at...

Or if you'd like to post a donation, please make your cheque payable to

IntoUniversity and send it to...

..writing IntoUniversity on the back of the envelope.

Thank you.