Young people encouraged to Reach for the Sky as Government announces £750,000 to create the next generation of aviators

Friday, 12 December 2025 09:23

£750,000 awarded to projects encouraging young people into careers in the aviation sector. Reach for the Sky Challenge Fund goes to projects across the UK aiming to showcase career paths, boost skills and futureproofing the aviation sector. Projects focus on getting young people from diverse backgrounds into aviation, creating access to opportunity in high-skilled...Request free trial

£750,000 awarded to projects encouraging young people into careers in the aviation sector.

Reach for the Sky Challenge Fund goes to projects across the UK aiming to showcase career paths, boost skills and futureproofing the aviation sector.

Projects focus on getting young people from diverse backgrounds into aviation, creating access to opportunity in high-skilled jobs.

Projects to inspire the next generation of aviators across the UK are set to get a boost as the Government today (12 December 2025) announces £750,000 boost to projects inspiring young people to explore careers in aviation.

From rocket building to roadshows, the projects benefitting from funding don't just promote more conventional aviation careers, they also raise awareness of the varied, technical, and emerging routes into careers in aviation that are less visible and associated with the sector.

The Reach for the Sky funding will support a future workforce that meets the demands of a rapidly growing aviation sector, following the government approving expansion plans for Gatwick and Luton, and pushing forward a third runway at Heathrow to create thousands of highly skilled jobs.

Projects set to benefit include TEC (Tech, Engineering, Creative) Women, which will be awarded nearly £100,000 to deliver STEM career festivals in Cornwall, aimed at encouraging more girls into the sector.

Over £50,000 will also be awarded to East London Advanced Technology Training (ELATT), to inspire young people from deprived communities in East London into aviation careers through employer visits, workshops, clubs, and creative projects.

Neurodivergent school children in Manchester will also be encouraged into aviation through the Mason Foundation, thanks to a £30,000 boost from the Government.

Aviation, Maritime and Decarbonisation Minister Keir Mather, said:

“The UK has a proud history in aviation which we are determined to continue by inspiring more young people to see the sector as a place where they can build their careers.

“Reach for the Sky plays a vital role in that mission, helping to break down barriers to opportunity and encouraging the next generation to aim high.

“Alongside securing the future of the aviation industry, this is about ensuring young people from all backgrounds can see and learn about the varied and often highly skilled jobs and future opportunities that will deliver growth across the country.”

Other projects benefitting from the funding include:

Fantasy Wings – encourages girls from ethnic minorities into the industry by providing interactive workshops in Birmingham, Manchester, and London, alongside flight simulator sessions.

Aerobility – supports pathways into aviation for the disabled community by providing accessible virtual simulator sessions in counties including Surrey, Staffordshire, and Kent.

Get with the Programme – delivers a bespoke ‘Moon Landing Coding Adventure' nationally, introducing coding and aerospace for students across the country.

Now in its fourth round, Reach for the Sky has backed dozens of projects across the UK to improve their offer of support for young people, including the Air League – a training provider based in London, aimed at unlocking aviation opportunities for underrepresented communities – and Codes4Drones who won the 2025/2026 STEM Provider of the Year' award for presenting drone coding workshops to primary and secondary school pupils across the country.

Jackson Smith, CEO of Fantasy Wings, said:

“We at Fantasy Wings are delighted to receive this funding from the Reach for the Sky Challenge, a fantastic initiative dedicated to powering the next generation into aviation.”

“As Europe's largest diversity-focused aviation programme, we've seen firsthand how access and opportunity change lives. With over 5,000 graduates and 500 flying scholarships awarded in the last five years, this new support will allow us to expand our reach, enhance our programmes, and create even more pathways for young people across the UK to explore and build careers in aviation.”

Today's announcement follows the launch of applications for the next cohort of Aviation Ambassadors in September, a group of industry professionals who work to raise the profile of aviation careers alongside undertaking their professional roles in the sector.

Alongside inspiring the next generation of aviation leaders, the Government is also backing the development of technologies to help futureproof the sector. This includes in greener aviation through the Sustainable Aviation Fuel Bill, which will provide economic security for the sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) market by guaranteeing a set price per unit for UK producers.

An additional £63 million is also being invested to speed up construction on new SAF production plants, to unlock the opportunities of the green fuels sector in aviation to deliver growth and create skilled jobs on the journey to reach net zero.

Caitlin Gould, TEC Women CIC and TEC Girls Director said:

“At TEC Women CIC we are thrilled that our TECgirls Reach for the Sky Festival and Take Flight Education Programme has been funded to help more girls explore STEM roles in aviation and aerospace. Our Take Flight Festival has been building year on year, with over 500 girls and 1,000 people attending last year, and our education outreach has provided practical hands-on-learning for over 200 girls across Cornwall, including a work experience week.

“In 2026 we plan to continue to grow this programme, working with more industry partners and reaching new audiences across rural and coastal locations. Without support from the Challenge Fund, ambitious events like our festival would not be possible. “

Tara Connelly, Programmes Manager at Bright Futures UK said:

“We're incredibly grateful to receive this funding. It will make a huge difference to the young people we support in hospital and help us provide tailored aviation outreach to a demographic that has previously been excluded.”

ENDS

NOTES TO EDITORS

A full of successful projects can be found below.

Organisation Title	Funding	Project description and targeted region
Lightyear Foundation	£28,000	In response to the ‘Equal Skies' charter, the Lightyear Foundation will host in-person, inclusive workshops for neurodivergent young people including industry visits (National).
Jon Egging Trust	£40,122	An aviation and aerospace careers roadshow, raising aspirations for young people from disadvantaged backgrounds by connecting them to real-world opportunities in the sector. (Cornwall, Dorset, East Anglia, Hampshire, Lincolnshire, West Midlands, Oxfordshire, Wiltshire).
Flight Crowd	£54,040	A three-month virtual programme focussed on career skills and sector specific challenges. Paired with a specialist, application only, programme which includes a two-day immersive experience at Norwich Airport. (South England).
Get With The Program	£54,020	A project which delivers the organisation's bespoke ‘Moon Landing Coding Adventure' an introduction to coding and aerospace for key stage 2 students (National).
The Mason Foundation	£30,000	A 12-month pathway of workshops, in partnership with the Air League which teaches employability for aviation careers to neurodivergent people age 13-25 (Manchester).
Aerobility	£60,589	Supports a pathway into aviation and aerospace for disabled people through virtual simulators, online careers sessions, industry visits and introductory flight in a bespoke, accessible aircraft (Surrey, Staffordshire, Cornwall, Kent).
TEC Women	£95,848	Festivals for girls age 7-12 exploring STEM activities and careers in the sector, to align with Women in Engineering Day. Programme also contains work experience programmes (Cornwall).
ELATT	£55,914	Employer visits, workshops, clubs, and creative projects to show young people living in poverty in East London who are excluded from mainstream education that it is possible for them to succeed in STEM career pathways (London).
Brighter Futures Social Investment CIC	£46,000	Connecting young people ages 16-25 with employers while teaching soft skills and employability skills to build confidence to pursue a career in aviation (Kent and London).
Cranfield University	£32,376	Careers talks from members of the National Flying Laboratory Centre and visits to the university interactive facilities, which include a Boeing 737, for students eligible for free school meals between years 5 and 8 (Cranfield).
Springpod	£69,875	Virtual aviation and aerospace work experience facilitated by all members of the Aviation Industry Skills Board for students from underrepresented backgrounds (Virtual).
Big Ideas	£38,336	Provides students from underserved communities access to aviation pathways, combining digital workshops, industry role models and in-person enrichment to build aspiration from the experience (London).
Martian Supersonic Jets	£45,000	A unique year-long competition programme for university students to design, build and fly a solar aircraft, complimented with college and school outreach (National).
Bright Futures UK	£11,789	Providing virtual reality workshops to children in hospital who are missing out on education due to long term illness, preventing them missing out on learning key skills and being inspired while receiving treatment (London).
Seadream Education CIC	£5450	Introduces primary school age children to the concept of flight using wind tunnels and models to show how lift is created and how design influences efficient flying (Devon, Cornwall, Somerset).
Fantasy Wings	£79,860	Careers workshops for young women and individuals from minority ethnic backgrounds designed to create pathways into the industry. Includes discussions with role models, flight simulator sessions, and networking opportunities (Birmingham, Manchester, London).