Aspirations students are involved in a multitude of learning experiences, from help with budgeting and preparing for work, to projects which provide a more social context for their development. In 2005, The Heritage Lottery Fund granted Red2Green a 'Young Roots' grant to research the soldiers of Bottisham who fought and died in World War one.

One of Aspirations' students at the time explains how the project took place:

"As part of this Heritage Lottery project:

• we visited the Bottisham Memorial, and tracked down various sites on the internet that gave details on the soldiers
• we had visits from local people who had studied the period and had information that we found useful
• o some of the more ingenious students were able to track down the regimental badges of the different regiments, and some of the personal details of the soldiers enlisted
• we also visited the Suffolk Regimental Museum and examined the equipment and tools of was that they used, and had an interesting talk with the curator.

We then created a web site detailing the names, histories and deaths of the young men from Bottisham who fought so bravely.

The information we found about the soldiers had to be displayed in a way simple enough for everyone to access. So we chose to do a web site.

We used the 'Dreamweaver MX' software to design the web pages, and those in charge of writing the code learned a lot about constructing a site that could be quite important in getting jobs later in life.

When we had finished it, we put the web site on a CD and delivered it to the 'Heritage Lottery Fund' and everyone else who would find this useful or informing (the local history group for one).

Those who did the programming and page design found it improved their computer skills, and their social skills.

The students at 'Aspirations' thought this was an interesting project. Those involved in the research learned a lot about our local history that they found interesting, and the impact that the war had on local villages".

Peter Hacking

'Young Roots' offers grants of between £5,000 and £25,000. The scheme aims to involve 13-20 year-olds (up to 25 for those with special needs) in finding out about their heritage, developing skills, building confidence and promoting community involvement.