On 4 November the Air League set out its Youth in Aviation initiative stall in a reception held in the House of Lords, hosted by Baroness Garden of Frognal.
As its title suggests, the initiative is all about bringing together all of the youth organisations involved with aviation together to collaborate and share resources and opportunities. The key organisations involved include the Air League itself, the Royal Aeronautical Society, the HCAP’s Young Air Pilots, Air Scouts, the Air Cadet Organisation and Aerobility.
The annual Parliamentary Reception has been running for five years and in that time the initiative has achieved “a huge amount,” according to Air League Council Member and Private pilot Scott Pendry. “Not least, highlighting the role of the participating organisations and how they are supporting today’s youth through a multitude of schemes associated with aviation and aerospace. The House of Lords reception acts as a great way of showing MPs, Peers and industry what is happening at a grass roots level, raising concerns in a friendly way. Indeed, we always have a lot of young people present and it’s great to see young air cadets, air scouts etc. directly engaging with their local MP!”
There are some real problems that the constituent flying organisations face, such as painfully slow processing of CRB checks, the closure of airfields and the pause in Air Cadet gliding ops. “So the Parliamentary reception is not just an opportunity to say hello to some MPs over a cup of tea but it’s also an opportunity to highlight how things could improve,” adds Scott. “In recent years we have sought to increase interest in Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) encouraged greater links between the aerospace industry and the education system and encouraged other youth organisations involved in aerospace to pick up the slack given the Air Cadet Organisation’s ongoing problems.”
For further information, see: www.youthinaviation.org
