The National Plan for Equity of Access to Higher Education 2015-2019 highlights the importance of partnership in widening participation and advises the development of regional and community partnership strategies and the strengthening of linkages between higher education institutions and local communities. The SOAR Project embraces such an approach and leverages existing, long-established local connections between HEIs, DEIS schools, community partnerships, cohort specific advocacy groups and seeks new synergies throughout the project lifespan to support project delivery and maximise outcomes for target groups.