It’s all hands on deck for Dalston-based education charity ‘Hackney Pirates’ as it gears up to open a second ‘ship’ in Haringey.
With a pirate ship-themed building on Kingsland Road, Hackney Pirates supports 9-13 year olds outside of school hours in a “weird and wonderful” learning environment. Among secret passageways and an underwater cave, the charity runs educational projects that aim to boost children’s literacy skills and perseverance in the classroom.
One ship, which doubles as a café, costs just under £400,000 per year to run. The charity estimates it will need to bring in £589,000 to support a new addition to its fleet.
The Haringey ship, due to set sail in January, is the start of what the charity hopes will be a wider expansion. By 2021 they plan to have four ships across London, providing one-on-one support to over 800 children who need extra help with their schooling.
“The work is really impactful,” said head of fundraising Kemi Duncan. “The typical pirate is 13-28 months behind their peers in terms of literacy, but by the time they’ve finished their year as a pirate, their literacy has improved by around 15 months.”
