A Thoughtful Start: Inspiring Futures Advisory Committee Meets for the First Time

This week marked an exciting milestone for The Rigby Foundation as we hosted the inaugural meeting of the Inspiring Futures Advisory Committee, a group of exceptional leaders united by a shared commitment to improving opportunities for young people across the West Midlands.

Brilliantly chaired by Ava Sturridge-Packer CBE,  the committee brings together a wealth of experience and insight with their collective expertise spanning education, community leadership, employability,  public service and youth advocacy,  exactly the blend needed to help review and shape the programme as it develops.

The meeting focused on the positive early progress of Inspiring Futures, now five months into delivery across 10 Birmingham based Education

partners.  Highlights included strong school and student engagement, with over 1,300 students already benefiting from high-quality programmes delivered by our charity partners and positive feedback from both teachers and young people.

The committee encouraged us to keep listening closely to our partners and young people as the programme evolves, to continue building evidence through our Theory of Change model to support the delivery of long‑term outcomes and finally to explore how the programme can support broader community and family engagement.

One of the most exciting discussions centred on the creation of our Young Ambassadors group, which will become a core part of Inspiring Futures. The committee shared valuable guidance on Ambassador recruitment, representation and safeguarding to ensure that young people’s voices sit at the heart of decision making. The group will be launched later this year, and we can’t wait to begin working with young people from our education partners to help shape the future of the programme.

A huge thank you to Ava and every member of the committee for their time, wisdom and commitment.  The meeting left us feeling energised and inspired as we continue to build a programme that is ambitious, evidence led and focused on the needs of young people.