Image credit: Future Foundations
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. 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 like minded 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 28th 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.
To find out more, visit https://www.globalsocialleaders.com/
