Last year Southport marketing agency Hatter’s launched the White Rabbit Academy to help young people develop confidence, communication skills, and experience of working life and it is set to return for a second year. Tony McDonough reports
An academy set up in 2025 to develop young people’s confidence and skills is returning for a second year after demonstrating measurable improvements among its first cohort.
Founded by the managing director of Hatter’s Digital Agency, Sarah Jackson, the academy bridges the gap between education and employment through practical projects, mentoring and engagement with local businesses and industry professionals.
The first five-month programme was delivered in partnership with Southport Education Group and supported 14 digital T-Level students. Based at Eastbank, with backing from Sefton Council, it helped students develop workplace skills, build professional connections and explore career opportunities.
Student self-assessments showed improvements in seven of eight measured skill areas, including a 28% increase in presentation skills and a 23% increase in confidence when speaking to unfamiliar people. Following these results, Southport Education Group has commissioned a second cohort.
Sarah said: “Young people have so much to offer, but they don’t always have the confidence or connections to recognise the opportunities available to them.
“We created White Rabbit Academy to give students the chance to work with real businesses, develop professional relationships and discover what they’re capable of.”
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Alongside Hatter’s, Sarah is currently developing Wundrr, an AI-driven behavioural intelligence platform helping businesses better understand their customers and build stronger, longer-term relationships.
Sarah says her involvement in Novel, a business support programme delivered in collaboration by the City Region Combined Authority and University of Liverpool’s Virtual Engineering Centre (VEC), helped shape her thinking and inspired her to establish Wundrr.
Focused on AI for Good, Wundrr aims to ensure data is used responsibly to enable more meaningful customer conversations.
Sarah said: “Being part of the first Novel cohort was what motivated me to found Wundrr.
“It helped me develop my thinking around how technology and behavioural intelligence can be used to build better relationships between businesses and their customers.”
The relationship has continued beyond the programme. The VEC has since supported Sarah with accessing grant-funding, and senior stakeholder engagement manager at the VEC, Emma Green, was a programme mentor on the academy’s first cohort.
Sarah said: “The relationships I’ve built as a result of being part of the Novel cohort have made a big difference to the direction I’ve taken since.”