For 18 years, the Aldridge Foundation has successfully supported young people from underserved communities to gain the skills and confidence to have a more equal chance in life. Reflecting the significant progress that has been made, the Foundation is now setting out a renewed strategy and operating model for the next 3 to 5 years.

Formed in 2006, the Aldridge Foundation initially focused its main efforts on creating a family of academies situated in some of the most deprived communities of the UK. In 2016, these academies became part of the Aldridge Education Multi-Academy Trust and the Foundation moved its focus to creating and trialling a series of initiatives to better equip the young people from these communities to navigate the challenges they face in thriving in life. Many of these initiatives have now successfully reached a stage of maturity where they are embedded in and can be self-managed by the academies.

The Foundation is now embarking on the next stage of its evolution. Informed by what it has learnt from its work and feedback from young people, the Foundation has identified and is prioritising those areas where it believes it can have the most impact on the lives of young people it supports going forward. From September 2024, the Aldridge Foundation will focus on supporting and delivering core programmes which play specific key roles in supporting young people’s next steps post school and into the future careers of their choice. The initial two core programmes focus on life and employability skills development through sports, and the Aldridge Next Steps programme which provides financial, pastoral and employability support post school:

*Skills development through Sport programme, has a particular focus on the skills and opportunities that can be developed through cricket coaching and competitive sport. This programme builds on the best-in-class cricket facilities and programme that have been developed across the past 10 years in a state school in Brighton, Brighton Aldridge Community Academy. Many of the young people who have benefitted from the cricket academy programme have gone on to become professional sports people, entered the wider sports and sports-health industry, or have used the skills they developed to fuel their success in other careers of their choice. The programme supports greater diversity in industry and positive social mobility (particular in the world of sport) and we wish to expand it locally and into the other lower socio-economic communities where the Foundation has traditionally worked.

*Next Steps programme, provides necessary support to bridge the transition from school into further and higher education and directly into the world of work. This is a programme of bursaries and hardship grants integrated with valuable pastoral support, life skills training, mentorships and access to a growing professional network assisting with internships and pathways into work. The Foundation recognises that many young people from the communities it supports require guidance in navigating continuing and additional challenges as they make this transition in preparing for their chosen careers.

The Aldridge Foundation prides itself on refining and evolving its work in response to the changing needs of young people and the ever-evolving macro-environment, and so the Foundation will continually evaluate the addition of further initiatives that fit its core priorities in the future, such as building on its past work of inspiring and supporting young people to pursue careers in fine arts and the wider creative arts industry.

Refining its focus also allows the Foundation to adapt its working model. The Foundation is therefore beginning a staged transition to a largely volunteer led operating model which is designed to underpin greater cost-efficiency and sustainability. Founder and Chair of Trustees, Sir Rod Aldridge, remains at the heart of the Foundation and his family continues to support its essential work. Alongside the Aldridge family, the Foundation benefits from the support and donations of a range of organisations and individuals who are valued partners and it will seek to build on this and attract further donors and corporate partners.

Moving to this new volunteer led working model will result in a few changes to the Foundation’s executive team. From 1 August 2024, Jennifer Lavender, a trustee of the Aldridge Foundation and a member of the next generation of the Aldridge family, is to become trustee lead for Programmes and Development and dedicate more time to the Foundation, along with the continuing support of the other trustees. Highlighting her commitment to education and supporting young people, Jennifer has been a trustee of the Foundation for the past 7 years and a Member of the Aldridge Education MAT for 5 years. She is an early year’s educationalist and is currently studying a Master’s Degree at Kingston University focussing on the role of sport in skills development, particularly in girls’ and women’s sport.

The Foundation, with massive thanks and much sadness, is announcing two departures from the team. After 6 years of successfully leading and further developing the Foundation and its work, Shona Nichols steps down from the position of CEO from 31 July 2024 to pursue a more flexible consultancy and coaching career. To facilitate a smooth transition, Shona has agreed to provide occasional advisory support to Jennifer and the Foundation up until the end of 2024. Additionally, having played key roles in the Foundation over the past 13 years, our Communications and Programmes Manager, Georgie Butler, is leaving to pursue the next stage of her career building on the skills she has developed with the Foundation.

Sir Rod Aldridge said: “The Aldridge Foundation has had an exciting and immensely impactful journey to date and we thank all of our donors and partners who play an essential role in supporting our work. Along with my fellow Board of Trustees, we are confident that the strategy to prioritise and focus our work on these areas along with the new operating model will enable us to sustainably continue our valuable work of enabling young people to have an equal chance of thriving in life

“On behalf of all the young people we support and our trustees, I thank Shona and Georgie for all that they have done with such dedication and passion to progress the work of the Foundation.

“Shona has been an exceptional CEO bringing a rigour to the programmes that we deliver and ensuring that processes are in place to measure the impact of our work. By doing so she has clearly demonstrated the valuable impact of our work on young people’s lives and further enhanced the Foundation’s reputation. Above all, she has constantly demonstrated a willingness to go the extra mile to ensure that the young people attending our programmes, many of whom are experiencing challenging situations, have the best possible outcome we can deliver to help them have a fulfilling life.

“With Georgie it has been a real pleasure to see her develop and become a highly valuable and valued member of the Foundation. As Communications and Programmes Manager, she has played a key role in helping to evolve our programmes and extend our reach. We thank her deeply and all of us will watch with great interest on how her career develops.

“I am delighted that my daughter, Jennifer will play an even greater role in the future of the Foundation and bring her interest and expertise in the development of young people to the work of our team. We all look forward to the Foundation’s continued evolution and our work in helping young people to have an equal chance in thriving in life.”