Olivia’s Red Balloon story as told by her Mum Tina.
“I had always envisioned my daughter Olivia following in the footsteps of her two older sisters regarding education. I imagined that she would progress through high school relatively happily, achieving GCSEs which would allow her to continue onto A levels or a BTEC course at sixth form or college.
“When Olivia developed an eating disorder in Year 8 and suffered from such acute anxiety and worry that she could no longer face going to school, she lost her way in education and as a parent I was at a loss to find an education provision that could help us both.
We had all but given up hope, and any chance of Olivia completing her education seemed impossible.
“It was then that we discovered Red Balloon, an online educational programme that would allow Olivia access to education again, but even more importantly would help her to look to recover her emotional well being.
“From the outset, Red Balloon was the perfect fit for Olivia because it allowed her to learn at her own pace and restored her confidence. All her teachers and mentors were amazing and endlessly patient. Olivia began to enjoy lessons again and the interaction with her teachers and peers was wonderful to see.
“As a parent I cannot explain how grateful and thankful I am to Red Balloon for helping Olivia to find a path back to education again.
To see her thrive in this environment was wonderful to watch, and the relief that she was no longer so isolated and alone was immense.
“What I loved most about Red Balloon was that they treated Olivia as an individual and where possible tailored an individual program to meet her needs both academically and emotionally.
“Olivia was at Red Balloon from January 20 to July 21 and will have achieved 6 GCSEs including Maths and English. This alongside her well being sessions have ensured that she is not only ready, but unbelievably excited to start her diploma course in psychology in September. Without Red Balloon this would not have been possible.
“As Olivia leaves Red Balloon to go to college I will never be able to express my heartfelt thanks and gratitude to both the programme and the staff for all they have done to encourage and help her to find her path in education, and be able to look to the future again.”
Our stories
"My hope is that I can enable children like me to access the same kind of provision that I was blessed with."
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I was quite surprised with how quickly I felt comfortable with Red Balloon. The lessons aren’t too long and it was like a proper school, but at home.
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At Red Balloon, I had a place where I finally belonged. I was safe, I didn’t feel alone and scared anymore.
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