Oaks Rise CIC

Born from lived experience. Backed to grow.

Every CAF story starts somewhere.

Our Impact Accelerator team, through social investment and advisory support, helped Oaks Rise CIC to scale – securing a new site, hiring staff, and expanding a model where lived experience shapes learning and every child can thrive.

Their challenge

Founded in 2023 by mothers of autistic children, Oaks Rise CIC is a neurodivergent-led alternative education and learning centre based in East Sussex. It was born out of the founder’s children’s shared experience of school-based trauma and mental health challenges that had left them disengaged from mainstream education.

Oaks Rise offers a pioneering, neuro-affirming model that blends academic opportunity with a nurturing, learner-led approach. It is the first education setting in the UK where almost all staff are neurodivergent, creating a uniquely empathetic and empowering environment. However, despite strong demand and a proven concept, the organisation faced a critical challenge: its original premises – a converted bar space – were unsuitable for growth, and limited working capital constrained its ability to scale.

The funding enabled Oaks Rise to secure a long-term lease on a fit-for-purpose facility in Brighton and Hove, hire a teaching assistant, and expand its service offerings. Our advisory support also helped the organisation develop detailed pupil journey maps – visual tools that articulate the emotional, social, and educational outcomes children achieve – enhancing its impact narrative for parents and funders alike.
Our approach was intentionally flexible and supportive, with a repayment schedule aligned to Oaks Rise’s cash flow and a risk-mitigated structure that recognised the early-stage nature of the organisation.