23rd November saw organisations and individuals from across aerospace come together in the House of Lords to highlight to politicians and industry stakeholders the social, economic and educational benefits of youth access to aviation and the vital connection such activities have with the future prosperity of the British aerospace industry.
Kindly hosted by Rt Hon Baroness Garden of Frognal in the Cholmondeley Room and organised by The Air League with support from Boeing UK, the Parliamentary Reception acts not only as away of showing MPs, Peers and industry what is happening at a grass roots level within aerospace, but further highlights the many advantages Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) can have on the future development of aerospace within the United Kingdom.
Guided by the Air League’s role as the ‘aerospace network’ we have sought to develop the Youth in Aviation initiative as a powerful tool for collaboration between not-for-profit organisations within our industry. Certainly for the Air League, the number of joint activities and engagment with other groups has increased significantly in recent years.
The main participants at the event were not-for-profit and charitable organisations such as; The Aviation Skills Partnership, The Royal Aeronautical Society, Aerobility, Scouts Association, Air Cadets, Fly2Help, RAF Museum, Brooklands Museum, the British Gliding Association and IMechE.
The Youth in Aviation Parliament reception is an incredibly important event for the aviation industry as a whole. The themes of the day were all focused on how we can increase the involvement of young people in aviation and to highlight the many benefits that youth access to aviation can bring to society. – Andrew Perkins
Baroness Garden gave the welcoming address, followed by Air League Trustee and British Airways Senior First Officer Andrew Perkins who set the scene for speakers from the Air Cadets, Fly2Help, the RAF Museum & The Aviation Skills Partnership. All the speakers gave presentations designed to stimulate interest and discussion on the importance of STEM subjects and aerospace to the future of young people and the vitality of the UK. This years Keynote speaker introduced by Air League Vice-Chairman Terry Holloway was the Rt Hon Matthew Hancock MP, Minister for Culture, Communications and Creative Industries who gave thanks to the many organisations for their efforts and ensured that the Youth in Aviation initiative has full backing from Her Majesty’s Government. The Air League’s Leading Edge Chairman, Matthew Wong closed the event with thanks and hopes that events like this one will help increase the amount interest within grassroots across the aerospace industry.
