Two women have stepped in to save and rejuvenate a home education project after parents were sent a notice that it was closing with ‘immediate effect’.
Frome residents Jessie and Hannah rescued the Phoenix Project, which has been running for six years at Critchill Manor Estate, offering a self-directed learning space for home-educated children aged 7 to 14.
The project had previously been run by dedicated parent volunteers. However, just before Easter, they issued a notice to families announcing its closure due to difficulties covering rent and continuing to run the space.
As home educators themselves, Jessie and Hannah understood the challenges and saw an opportunity to not only save the project but reimagine it as a shared space for both the home-educating community and the wider public.
“With no funds and just two weeks over the Easter break, we led a remarkable transformation,” said Jessie. “Alongside the facilitators, parents and volunteers, we sanded floors, repaired ceilings, repainted cabins with paint funded by Frome Rotary Club, built a new outdoor kitchen and even strung a huge parachute canopy between the trees. We’ve created a beautiful communal space for children and families to gather under. All materials were donated or found.”
Looking ahead, the pair – who have experience working with charities and fundraising – have launched a charitable organisation called The Village CIO and, with the help of community members, will now run the Phoenix Project.
Jessie said, “We’ve already submitted multiple funding bids – both to transform a shipping container into a community hub for single parents and freelancers, and to launch a wider programme of donation-only events, workshops and support initiatives open to the whole Frome community.”
To mark the launch of the charity and celebrate saving the project, a fundraising day was held earlier this month at the Critchill Estate site.
“The day was a roaring success and we raised about £1,000,” said Jessie. “There was live music by Kabob Hue Qua, dance, crafts and games, storytelling, face painting, organic ice cream, a fire circle and food donated by local business Lungi Babas.
“We had so many families comment on how fantastic it was that the space had been saved, and there were lots of ideas from parents – such as running a community fridge and creating an allotment space.”
“Every step of this has been an act of devotion,” added Jessie. “Not just to save a project, but to honour the idea that families thrive best not in isolation, but in community. The Phoenix Project isn’t just surviving — it’s becoming the seed of something much bigger.”
Pictured: The reimagined space
