Lightyear Foundation

Lightyear Foundation exists to support disabled and neurodivergent children and young people to engage with STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths). We are in the process of developing a new Strategic Plan, which will direct our work over the next 5-10 years, and we would value your input. We are engaging a wide range of young people and adults in developing this strategy, and as part of this, during next week we will be conducting a series of polls, to find out your views about the inclusion of disabled and neurodivergent people in STEM.  Please look out for our polls on Monday, Wednesday and Friday next week and like and share this post, to help spread the word!

If you are interested in becoming a volunteer for our F1 Engineering Labs, please take a look at the link below for more information and to apply.  https://lnkd.in/emAAJ9FY We’re looking for engineers who are keen to share their experiences and inspire young people to explore engineering! Royal Academy of Engineering [Image description: Blue background with a image of replica cardboard F1 cars that have been coloured in and placed on a race track. The logos for Light year Foundation, Ingenious and F1 in schools can be seen around the outside]

We have teamed up with F1 in Schools to design and deliver an accessible and inclusive Formula 1 Engineering Lab in special schools, introducing the world of race car engineering to a new generation of potential drivers and engineers. The children we work with face multiple disadvantages in education, careers and life skills and are all too often excluded from STEM – we want to change that. We’re looking for engineers who are keen to share their experiences and inspire young people to explore engineering! We need volunteers who can travel to schools in Oxfordshire or the nearby areas. For more information visit https://lnkd.in/eevCmPvn Royal Academy of Engineering [Image description: Graphic with a blue background and black text saying 'Calling all engineers' the logos for Light year Foundation, Ingenious and F1 in schools can be seen around the outside]

We have been working hard this week on our new Young People's Podcast Project (Y3P)! We are leading Y3P in collaboration with Inclusive Change at Work CIC with funding from the National Grid Community Matters Fund. Y3P is the first stage in our work to set up a forum of disabled and neurodivergent children and young people to help lead Lightyear Foundation's work in the future. This week, young people from the Bristol area, including three students from Venturers Academy, have designed, hosted and recorded their podcast episodes with the help of expert podcaster Lou, and Lightyear Foundation Community Manager, Rosie. We can't wait for you to hear them! Lou Temlett BSc(Hons), Dip Mgmt (Open)  [Image description: White graphic with details of a new podcast and Logos for Lightyear Foundation, National Grid Community matters fund and Inclusive change at work]

*Calling all Engineers* Would you be able to Volunteer your time for our new Formula 1 Engineering Lightyear Labs? For full details and to apply visit https://lnkd.in/eAhbwEs8 Royal Academy of Engineering [Image description: Blue background with a image of replica cardboard F1 cars that have been coloured in and placed in a purple plastic tray. the logos for Lightyear Foundation, Ingenious and F1 in schools can be seen around the outside]

We’re looking for engineers who are keen to share their experiences and inspire young people to  explore engineering! We need volunteers who can travel to schools in Oxfordshire or the nearby  areas. We have teamed up with F1 in Schools to design and deliver an accessible and inclusive Formula 1 Engineering Lab in special schools, introducing the world of race car engineering to a new  generation of potential drivers and engineers. For more information visit https://lnkd.in/ejy4ruS2 Royal Academy of Engineering [Image description: Graphic with a blue background and purple text saying 'We’re looking for engineers to volunteer in our new Formula 1 Engineering Lightyear Labs! ' the logos for Light year Foundation, Ingenious and F1 in schools can be seen around the outside]

In April we took a group of four students from Knowle DGE to Science Creates Outreach in Bristol where we were met by Charlie from Science Creates Outreach and Clio a senior scientist at GenomeKey. The students got to hear about the different organisations working at the incubator and hear about the interesting work they are doing. The students took part in a number of activities as well as an experiment to extract DNA from a strawberry. This trip was kindly funded by the Night Sky Foundation.  [Image description: Image 1: Someone is holding a funnel that has red liquid running into a beaker, we can also see green liquid in a container and table salt. The person is wearing a white lab coat, but their head and shoulders have been cropped out. Image 2: A sheet with different amino acids listed is on a desk with a string of multicoloured beads on top of it. We can also see scissors, a ruler, a bowl of beads and another piece of paper on the desk]

Huge thank you to The Spectris Foundation for helping to make this happen.

Lightyear Foundation CEO, Jeff Banks, and STEM Partnership Programme Manager, Em Diserens, were delighted to visit Wellcome Genome Campus   in Hinxton, Cambridge, to explore partnership opportunities with their fantastic education and engagement team, telling the story of their ground breaking work on genetics to disabled and neurodivergent children and young people. #Charity #SEN #SEND #Disability #Inclusion #STEM [Image description: Image 1: Four adults are looking at the camera and smiling. They are inside a building and we can see a large plant in the background. Image 2: An ariel image of a large campus filled with buildings and car parks. Surrounding this are trees and fields. Image 3:Screenshot of the public page of the Wellcome Genome Campus website]

Voting closes tomorrow! We would love your nominations for The Children & Young People Movement for Good Special Draw. Please follow the link below to nominate us and share with your networks.