The 2018 Youth in Aviation Parliamentary Reception will be held from 3.30 pm – 5.00 pm on Wednesday 28th November 2018 at the Cholmondeley Room, House of Lords, Palace of Westminster.
The event with be hosted by Baroness Garden of Frognal and organised by The Air League as convener of the Youth in Aviation Initiative.
The Reception will be an opportunity for members of the Youth in Aviation Initiative attending to showcase to MPs, Peers and Industry what they are doing to support young people into aviation and aerospace. The Reception will also allow the opportunity for guests to network, with keynote speakers from within aviation, aerospace and the military.
The Youth in Aviation group is pleased to welcome the Aviation Skills Partnership and Boeing UK as our sponsors for the 2018 Reception.
The 2018 Reception will have two key themes:
RAF 100 — Commemorate, Educate, Inspire and 2018 – The Year of Engineering
The primary aim of our joint Parliamentary event will be to showcase to Members of Parliament what we do and exists to encourage support of our causes.
The Youth in Aviation Group is delighted to welcome Air Marshal Mike Wigston CBE as our guest speaker for our Parliamentary Reception.
Air Marshal Mike Wigston was appointed Deputy Commander Capability and Air Member for Personnel and Capability in August 2018.
Appointments in operational headquarters have included Al Udeid Airbase, Qatar, as the Chief of Combat Operations in the Combined Air and Space Operations Centre; Basrah International Airport, Iraq as Commander 903 Expeditionary Air Wing; and one year in Afghanistan as the Director Air Operations in Headquarters ISAF Joint Command. He was appointed CBE in 2013 for his contribution to that mission.
Staff appointments in the Ministry of Defence have included Principal Staff Officer to the Chief of Defence Staff working for General Lord Richards and, from July 2013, for General Lord Houghton. In January 2015, he was appointed Administrator of the Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia and Commander British Forces Cyprus. In March 2017, he was appointed Assistant Chief of the Air Staff, responsible for the strategic coherence and coordination of the Royal Air Force, and oversight of the RAF100 centenary programme.
His education and training includes: reading engineering science at Oriel College, Oxford; the Advanced Command and Staff Course; an MA in defence studies from King’s College, London and the Higher Command and Staff Course.
