About the fund

The Learning Launchpad is a fund delivered by the Young Foundation working in partnership with Edge to enable young people, whatever their background, to achieve their potential.

21st century ideas for the next generation

Our world is changing fast. Traditional structures for passing on skills and knowledge to young people are breaking down. Too often, young people face a narrow set of choices, and a world that emphasises academic routes to success, rather than practical or vocational learning. This can leave many young people without the employability skills and resilience they need to thrive in the adult world.

We need to build new bridges, develop new skills and create new mechanisms to help young people successfully navigate their way through their choices today and ensure they are equipped to tackle tomorrow.

The years when young people make important choices about their futures in education, get their first job, leave home and begin to live independent lives are critical. We aim to help create lasting projects that support young people between the ages of 14 and 25 discover their potential, pursue their goals and achieve their dreams.

Since 2007, the Learning Launchpad has been dedicated to supporting and leading groundbreaking initiatives aimed at helping young people make that transition, and we pride ourselves on our track record.

We believe that people from any walk of life, with innovative ideas and the passion to make them happen, inspire enormous change. We are committed to helping you come up with the solutions and approaches that tackle the problems young people face.

Edge and the Young Foundation working together

The Young Foundation has been helping young people to make a successful transition to adulthood for more than 50 years. The Foundation was launched in 2005, but builds on a long history. Its predecessor organisations under Michael Young were responsible for far-reaching innovations including the creation of the Open University and played an important role in shaking up the educational landscape of Britain and the creation of comprehensive schooling in the 1960s.

Edge is an independent education foundation. It is dedicated to raising the status of practical and vocational learning, so that all young people have the opportunity to achieve their potential, and the UK's future workforce is equipped with the skills to be successful in the modern economy. Edge believes that 'learning by doing' is as important as academic learning, and that there are many paths to success.