ARPAS-UK is excited to partner with social mobility charity Brightside to support young people facing barriers. Together, they’ll provide insight into the world of aviation through high-impact online mentoring to young people. The project is being delivered through the Future Flight Challenge to address the skills gap within the aviation sector.

The £300 million Future Flight Challenge was created by the UK Government to support the challenges that aviation has coming, with particular focus on electric, hydrogen and autonomous air vehicles. This is the third revolution in aviation.

Brightside’s mission is to help young people from under-represented backgrounds to make confident and informed decisions about their future. They do this by connecting them with an inspiring mentor online, through their fully safeguarded platform and app, where they can ask questions, get feedback and share links and resources.

ARPAS-UK is the non-profit trade association for the UK drone industry. They engage with a broad range of stakeholders, from Government to Regulators, other industries’ Professional and Trade Bodies to promote the use of drones within the UK to Industry as well as the General Public, ensuring drone use is safe and compliant. The Association is run by the members.

Brightside and ARPAS-UK will run a mentoring project starting in autumn 2023. Mentors who work across the sector will be matched with mentees to inspire the next generation and encourage them to take up the challenges that face the UK’s aviation future. In 2022, 77% of Brightside mentees said that mentoring influenced their decisions about what to do next.

Brightside COO Rachel Pigott said,

“We’re thrilled to be a partnering with ARPAS-UK as part of the Future Flight Challenge: Closing the Skills Gap. We will be using online mentoring to provide young people across the UK with a direct insight into this exciting and evolving sector and we can’t wait to see the impact.”

Online mentoring is a flexible volunteering opportunity, as mentors dedicate just one hour a week to support young people. All mentors receive training and complete a DBS check (organised by Brightside). If you’re interested in sharing your knowledge of the Future Flight and drone sector and making a huge difference to the life of a young person, sign up to become a mentor by emailing Elena Major, elena.major@arpas.uk, Operations Manager at ARPAS-UK

3 July 2023