INNOVATIVE SUMMER PROGRAMME LAUNCHED IN RESPONSE TO COVID-19

Press Release | 1st July 2020 | For Immediate Release

Over 2,000 young leaders aged 11 to 15, will be able to attend, a fully funded summer school from home in July and August, with support from Innovate UK and Future Foundations.

Future Foundations is an independent award-winning organisation which believes in the power of young people to create a more sustainable and brighter future. The funding that has been commissioned by Innovate UK, will enable the summer school programme, ‘Global Social Leaders (GSL) Summer Programme’ to supply free-of-charge developmental activities to deprived communities, designed in response to Covid-19 challenges faced by young people.

Innovate UK, as part of UK Research and Innovation, is investing up to £20 million in innovation projects. The aim is to support UK businesses to focus on emerging or increasing needs of society and industries during and following the Covid-19 pandemic, click here to find out more.  A WHO-UNICEF-Lancet commission makes it clear that all stakeholders, from governments to parents, must:

Ensure the physical and mental impacts of the Covid-19 epidemic on adolescents are kept minimal. Immediate actions are warranted.

Jonathan Harper FRSA, CEO, Future Foundations commented:

“We recognise the urgent need for innovative programmes for young people this summer. At Future Foundations, we design and deliver pioneering training programmes and experiences for young people between the ages of 7 and 24 globally. Our mission is to inspire young people to achieve their full potential. Our vision is a society where all organisations are led by socially conscious people, with every young person making the transition into adulthood with the foundations they need for their future.

“Our innovative GSL programme, launched in 2013, in partnership with the Wellington Leadership and Coaching Institute, empowers young people to co-design innovative social action projects benefiting their families, communities and charitable organisations further afield. GSL was recognised by the Royal Society of the Arts as an innovative programme with a Catalyst award to broaden our reach and impact in 2016. We have since inspired and supported 5,000 young people to deliver over 1,000 projects in 100 countries.  We have designed this programme to respond to Covid-19 challenges faced by young people and communities”.

This summer, the GSL Summer Programme will give young people the opportunity to participate from home.  The core elements of the programme will run in the morning. It will encourage engagement with school networks to promote free, high-impact summer programmes with online and offline options. Participants will have options to join for one to four weeks, depending on their own personal preferences.

The project will benefit approximately 2,450 participants from 35 schools through leadership and 21st century workplace skill developments and will fill a void created by cancelled mainstream summer activities. Each participant will undergo personal journeys and can choose if they want to focus on family, local community, fundraising initiatives for charities or run campaigns to raise awareness, and they can do all this whilst connecting with likeminded peers from across the UK. They will complete 350 projects benefiting communities locally and globally, generating 73,500 social action hours during the grant period. They will be challenged to present their learning and impact in September, aiding a positive transition back into schools.

Future Foundations will launch the GSL Summer Programme on Wednesday 1st July 2020 with free core activities being available for young people from 27th July through to the 21st August 2020.

Future Foundations invites schools and parents to register interest, and community organisations to register to be an organisation to benefit from support of young people participating.

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For further information or press enquiries please contact:

Daisy Craydon PR E: contact@daisycraydonpr.com M: 07539494720

ABOUT THE ORGANISERS

Future Foundations

Founded in December 2004, Future Foundations is an independent training organisation that aims to inspire young people to achieve their full potential and become leaders within their lives and in society. Its vision is a world where all organisations are led by socially conscious people, with every young person making the transition into adulthood with the foundations they need for their future.

We design and deliver pioneering training programmes and experiences for young people between the ages of 7 and 24 globally and for teachers and adults who want to inspire the next generation. We partner with leading organisations from the third, private, and public sector who share our vision and mission.

Working with over 20,000 young people in the last fifteen years, Future Foundations has delivered programmes for government departments, schools, colleges, universities and global companies.

Future Foundations was a winner of the Department for Education Character Awards 2015. In 2016, Chief Executive Jonathan Harper, FRSA, won the RSA Catalyst Award for commitment to supporting young people to achieve their full potential and in 2017 won the Enactus Alumnus of the Year global award, for exemplifying how entrepreneurial action for others can create a better world for all. In 2017, Future Foundations project managed a response to the Grenfell Tower tragedy, working with Ark, the Aldridge Foundation and Kensington and Chelsea council, to organise a four-week summer programme of activities for young people living in the local community, who had been impacted directly or indirectly.

Future Foundations Contact Details

Jonathan Harper FRSA, CEO
E: jon@future-foundations.co.uk T: 020 34 32 34 50 W: www.future-foundations.co.uk

Wellington Leadership and Coaching Institute

Wellington Leadership and Coaching Institute is a part of Wellington College and aims to develop leaders with the passion, values and skills to serve and make a positive difference to the lives of others. They deliver this vision through partnering with organisations in the public and private sector, including the Government, the Civil Service, the Cabinet Office, schools (local, national and international), universities (Oxford, Harvard, UPenn, Birmingham, UC Berkeley), charities, businesses and the Armed Forces.
The WLCI was founded on the core values of Wellington College: courage, integrity, respect, responsibility and kindness. It has three pillars, which inform the type of leaders it hopes to develop: leaders with great strength of character; the desire to serve and the skills needed to become a positive leader. The WLCI team have presented on leadership at Number 10, the Cabinet Office, the Department of Education, in China, Singapore, Mozambique and Australia, as well as for England Rugby.

Wellington College Contact Details:
Katy Granville-Chapman

E: kegc@wellingtoncollege.org.uk
W: https://www.wellingtoncollege.org.uk/leading-education/coaching-leadership-institute/