Accoutre Centre for Learning (Accoutre/ACL) launched in July 2020. It was set up as a direct result of the Covid-19 outbreak and the emotional impact of George Floyd’s death on the black community. A strong awareness of the inequalities experienced by the black British community prompted a group of friends to start this initiative.
We are a not-for-profit organisation, supporting the most marginalized and socio-economically disadvantaged black British, African and Afro-Caribbean children (ages 7 to 16 years of age), whose education attainment levels continue to languish significantly below all other groups. Accoutre provides free weekly classes in compulsory National Curriculum subjects i.e. maths and English – as well as teaching black authentic history, encompassing English, Caribbean and our African past.
We set up Accoutre to actively support children from disadvantaged communities to enable them to receive a quality supplementary education thus enabling them to become more confident, improve their sense of self-worth and identity, as well as to help them confidently navigate their way through the education system. My personal desire is to see complete equality for all, which includes the history and relationship that Britain had with Africa for many years prior to the commencement of the brutal slave trade – and the history of Britain and Africa following the abolishment of the slave trade. For me it is time for society to understand the deep and intertwined relationship that contributed to the prosperity of the UK. It is time for the true history to be voiced, but not from a position of antagonism or rage, but from a standpoint of truth. Delivered through a series of mini lectures in a language and from a perspective that our young people can easily grasp. We always encourage our young people, after every talk, to become independent researchers and to go off and do their own investigation on subject matters.
