Former teacher from Sleaford launches Little Crafters Boxes to help children with special educational needs

A former teacher and mum of two is stepping up to help children across the UK who have ‘fallen out of the education system’.

Radha Borthayre, from Sleaford, was first inspired to set up Little Crafters Boxes when she saw how many children, especially those with special educational needs, did not get access to the learning they needed.

After leaving her 15 years of teaching during lockdown, Radha, 41, decided to launch a craft box subscription service for children who were stuck at home with not much to do, and it blossomed from there.

“I think it just found me,” she said.

“Post-pandemic, lots of children had mental health issues, so I thought I could use the skills and knowledge that I had to help them out of that.”

Little Crafters Boxes continued to evolve, later offering online learning for children who needed an alternative way of education.

“I started off just to help a few and I ended up helping thousands, you reach out a hand and they grab you by the arm - the need is so great.

“I thought I was retiring when I left teaching but I ended up doing this and it’s just taken off.”

Radha says that she is seeing children go from being completely disengaged to loving life again and having a sense of purpose.

Her business is now running UK-wide and Radha starting work with local authorities to make it even more accessible.

“There are about 2,000 children in the country who currently have no access to education and are waiting for alternative provisions so we’re reaching out on a bigger scale.”

Radha says the crafts themselves can be very therapeutic to the children giving them the opportunity to do some hands-on learning.

“A lot of the children that we work with are the ones that were told they were failures in school, they had fallen out of the system so we’re bridging to gap.”

The company is introducing UK-manufactured DIY eco-friendly advent calendars and DIY festive decorations over the Christmas period for those aged three to 12.

The advent calendars include baubles, Christmas trees and festive scenes such as ‘enchanted’ or a vehicle set, complete with DIY police cars, fire engines and buses.

Additionally, its Little Crafters’ Christmas catalogue is filled with craft projects to keep kids busy.

More information can be found here.

Is this something your children would be interested in? Let us know in the comments.