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On Thursday 18th February Future Foundations’ alumni, staff, students, partners and funders came together at Stratford Circus for our third annual Celebration and Awards. The event, which was held at Stratford Circus in London was an incredible opportunity for us to unite the people that enable Future Foundation’s vision for society to come to life.

We would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who attended this year’s event to recognise and celebrate our collective achievements and contribution during 2015. We are especially grateful to the undisputed stars of the show, the succession of inspirational young people who took to the stage to share their Future Foundations journey with us all. It was with great pride and admiration that we watched participants of our many school programmes, Global Social Leaders, McKinsey Leadership Academy and National Citizen Service step up to the mic and demonstrate Future Foundations principles in action.

Congratulations to every Award winner, nominee and audience member for being part of a truly special night and for making 2015 a year to remember. We look forward to the successes this year will bring and to enjoying the journey with you all!

This years Annual Awards were hosted by two members off Future Foundations , Owen Bailey and Madonna Masuka.

During the Awards we heard presentations from alumni and coaches:

  • Luton Sixth Form

  • NCS

  • Global Social Leaders- Aimee Wilkinson

  • Pete Cuff , COO and Jon Harper, CEO- Looking Forward

  • Chloe Cousins- From Participant to Coach

Winners

#ffannualawards

Student of the Year- Aimee Wilkinson

Future Foundations get to work with some amazing individuals throughout the year, and this award is to recognise just one person who has stood out for their achievements.  The student of the year is someone who has lived the FF Principles and made a tangible difference to themselves and others.

Aimee Wilkinson from Kendrick School in Reading attended Global Social Leaders in as a DfE Character Award bursary winner in August 2015. She was an extremely engaged and active participant on the GSL 2015 programme. Her confidence and self-belief developed enormously and she has gone on to put this into action by representing herself, her school, FF and GSL at assemblies and events following the summer. She has shown she will step out of her comfort zone to share her GSL story and her passion and enthusiasm for the programme is infectious. She is a wonderful ambassador and epitomizes the aims of GSL to develop socially active young leaders who are able to lead themselves and those around them.

Volunteer of the Year- Philip Hutchinson

This award goes to one of our volunteers whose actions completely embody the values of Future Foundations and has contributed their time tirelessly to help us achieve our mission.

Philip who attended Nunthorpe school, participated in the McKinsey Leadership Academy in 2013 and then volunteered in 2015, helping our facilitators make the programme a success

“He was the first to volunteer himself when a task needed completing and the last person to leave at the end of the day. He always did everything with a smile. He has a real affiliative leadership style and it was a delight to work with him.”

Since the programme Phillip has also volunteered to represent Future Foundations at the Conservative Conference fringe event organised by Generation Change.

Philips blog on his journey with FF

Staff Member of the Year – Andy Dunn

Future Foundations recognises the important contribution our incredible members of staff make on FF programmes. This award goes to the member of staff who lives the FF principles and has shown commitment and enthusiasm throughout the year.

Andy Dunn “ is one of the most dedicated and hardworking coaches and course directors I have had the pleasure of working with. He is incredibly conscientious and always thinks of the bigger aims of the programme. He is able to draw the very best out of those around him and is also striving to develop his own skills and knowledge of leadership and social action. In 2015 he worked on more than 6 FF programmes in roles from a coach to a course director.”

GSL Impact Award- Yuchen Xu, Keyi Guo and Haipei Chen

They were judged on:

  1. Their measurable impact to date on the community
  2. Their personal growth: learning/knowledge and skills gained so far
  3. Creating a sustainable project
  4. Involving other people and/organisations

Our winner is a team of our GSL alumni from our partner school in China, High School Affiliated to Renmin University of China. This means they were unable to join us for the Awards Ceremony.

They developed a public platform about Chinese characters and culture on WeChat to draw attention to the beautiful characters and the colourful culture China possesses.

They decided to launch the platform as they felt attention and understanding of Chinese characters and culture has been declining in contemporary Chinese society.

Partner Special Recognition- Luton Sixth Form College

This award recognises the partner organisations that have helped Future Foundations to make a significant impact on young people’s lives, worked closely in partnership on one or more programmes and have shared our passion for helping every young person achieve their full potential.

The award goes to one of our newest and brightest partners, an organisation which approached us in 2015 to create an unforgettable experience to challenge and inspire their high achieving Sixth Formers and help them to lead their own success. Their teacher’s relentless drive, enthusiasm and commitment to this programme was infectious and enabled us to make this one of the most successful training events of last year. All this despite an incredibly short turn around and a heavy dose of emergency pizza. We look forward to a very Bright Future with our winning partner!

Special Recognition Award- John Lewis

This award will recognise a person who has contributed above and beyond what is expected to living the FF Principles over a sustained period of time and over a range of different projects.

UK Social Leader of the Year Award- Aadil Khan and Sahil Handa

This award goes has been created to recognise our alumni who have continued their social action since graduating from a Future Foundations programme.

The nominees were judged against 3 criteria:

  • Their impact on the community and others
  • Their learning/knowledge and skills gained
  • Special recognition: Creating a sustainable project and involving other people and organisations

Our winner this year is not just one person, but an incredible dynamic duo!

Aadil Khan from Haberdashers’ Aske’s Boys’ School and Sahil Handa from Queen Elizabeth’s School were unanimously selected for this award. They had both attended the McKinsey Leadership Academy and had initiated a The Youth Action project. Their project has had so much reach and impact since they participated in our programme, involving other people and partners, stayed true to their project principles, which has been carried out completely by young people and has created a sustainable legacy.

Their project is truly inspiring and now operating internationally!

Aadils blog on how far he has come and where he's planning to go from here