As we move into the fourth month of our tenth year, we are excited to share a further update to the work we started on the refresh of our identity and essence of Future Foundations.
We have reviewed Future Foundations’ Core Values (Trust, Respect, Integrity, Responsibility, Passion) and Programme Themes and concluded that there is significant overlap between the two. Neither our cultural values or programme themes have been brought to life as effectively on our programmes as we would like, and we believe they would benefit from being merged.
As a reminder, our Programme Themes for the last 10 years have been:
• Take Personal Responsibility – for your future and your impact on others
• Be Yourself – be who you are and the best you can be
• Know Yourself – develop your self-awareness
• Find your Talents – follow your passions
• Serve Others – by supporting each other, everybody benefits
The feedback we have received from our clients, staff and young people has shown that an underlying message and essence has been established, communicated and understood. For example, a student who attended the Westminster Summer School wrote to our team to say they had learned the following during the programme (see below for the full letter and context):
“Where you come from cannot determine where you are headed, but that it is what you are that mainly determines your life’s destination”
I believe this a great example of the essence of Future Foundations, and with 10 years behind us now is the time to review and refine our message in order to create a set of principles we are fully committed to.
Since we re-launched our identity, mission and vision a number of our team and network members have been working to create a united set of ‘ Foundation Principles’. Our objective is to enable Future Foundations to live and breathe by a set of foundation principles which will help us achieve our mission and vision. We want our principles to be a true reflection of our staff, the behaviour we encourage in our students and the way we design and deliver our programmes.
Click here to view our first draft – please use the feedback form at the bottom of the page to submit your feedback.
I would now like to invite all our students, alumni, network of staff who have worked on our programmes, as well as our partners and clients, to review the principles and share with us your thoughts. Deadline for submitting your feedback is 28 April 2014.
Please tell us if you feel they encapsulate what you believe are the true cultural habits of our staff, and the behaviour we encourage from young people on our programmes.
If you would like to give further thoughts which do not fit into a feedback box, please do click here for my contact details, and get in touch.
Once we have received feedback we will then update ahead of an incredibly exciting summer of delivery, where we are planning to ensure that these principles are at the core of every programme we deliver.
Watch this space for further announcements coming soon, including how we will focus further on helping young people prepare for their future by focusing of the skills they need for the world of work…
Jon Harper, CEO, Future Foundations
Letter from alumni:
Dear Alex,
It is not very often that such an exciting array of opportunities are offered to me at once; nor have I ever before been given such a unique insight in to the subjects that I have been aware of but have so far failed to explore so deeply.
I am writing to you to thank you and other members of “Future Foundations” for making this incredible summer school possible…
Not only did Westminster Summer School greatly stimulate my confidence and hopes for the future, but it also encouraged me to broaden my knowledge and deepen my analysis: in other words, I was urged to challenge my own ideas for the first time, as well as exposing myself to concepts that I had never previously considered.
One of the most important messages I took away from the experience was that where you come from cannot determine where you are headed, but that it is what you are that mainly determines your life’s destination.
Kind regards, Harshadha.