The Jon Egging Trust (JET) & Impetus

The need: Young people from disadvantaged backgrounds who are struggling to engage in school often face adversity in their lives and have lost focus and self-belief. This can present as a lack of engagement in the classroom, disruptive behaviour, or persistent absenteeism, with knock-on effects on learning. There is strong evidence to suggest that Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) interventions can lead to gains in academic performance.

Our portfolio partner: JET's three-year Blue Skies programmes work with young people from disadvantaged backgrounds who are facing adversity. Their programme combines experiential learning in extraordinary STEM workplaces and environments with in-school sessions. Through their intervention, JET aims to raise young people’s aspirations, develop SEL competencies, and support young people to re-engage with school and improve their grades.

Our impact: With our support, JET have refined their intervention and Theory of Change to focus provision on young people aged 12-15, target SEL and school engagement and attainment outcomes, and deliver a revamped three-year programme for all young people going forward. JET are in the process of rolling this out across all provision and developing their understanding of impact. Through securing co-investment and funding from the UK Space Agency, JET have also near-doubled their income since working with us (based on FY24 forecast), enabling them to grow into new regions.

Impetus’ support has helped us to focus our offer, deepen our impact, and increase our reach. The opportunities and expertise they provide, together with access to a network of likeminded charities, continues to be invaluable.

Dr Alex Brown, CEO, Jon Egging Trust