After record crowds descended on the Royal International Air Tattoo this year, the event’s parent charity has been able to agree a number of partnerships to help young people fulfil their potential in STEM.
The Royal Air Force Charitable Trust (RAFCT) is powered by the aviation showcase and has now launched a new agreement with the Jon Egging Trust, which is their 15th partner to be supported this year.
This new collaboration will see RAFCT join the Jon Egging Trust as the Premier Partner for their Blue Skies programme in Wiltshire. The Blue Skies programme offers long-term support to young people who face barriers to engaging at school. Using dynamic STEM settings as a hook for learning, Blue Skies raises aspirations, self-belief and resilience.
The launch event took place at Oxfordshire’s RAF Brize Norton as students from Swindon Academy worked alongside Royal Air Force personnel from the Parachute Engineering School to learn the skills involved in safely packing the parachutes used by RAF display teams. This hands-on experience not only taught technical skills but also highlighted the responsibility and leadership required to ensure the safety of colleagues in real-world RAF operations.
Director at RAFCT, Dr Kevin P Stenson said: “The Blue Skies Programme is the perfect fit for the RAF Charitable Trust, because it supports young people to challenge themselves, re-engage with education and unlock their full potential, all using the essential skills and confidence learned from engaging with real world science, technology, engineering and maths.
We firmly believe in the power of collaboration to increase our impact, and working with the Jon Egging Trust given its close alignment with our own mission is an exciting next step. It is also particularly important to us as the Red Arrows, of which Jon was a part, are a such a highlight of RIAT each year”
Flt Lt Jon Egging lost his life whilst displaying with the RAF Red Arrows at Bournemouth Air Show. The Jon Egging Trust was founded in his memory in 2012, and since then, over 45,000 young people have benefited from their work from across the country.
Chief Executive Officer at the Jon Egging Trust, Dr Alex Brown said: “It was a pleasure to host the RAF Charitable Trust at our Blue Skies session in RAF Brize Norton. The session was an excellent example of how we work with exceptional partners like the RAF to deliver lifechanging impact for our young people. The funding from the RAF Charitable Trust will be instrumental in enabling us to change the lives of young people in the communities local to RIAT, enabling them to leave school with the skills, resilience and self-belief they need to succeed.”
