About us
Every young person needs somewhere they are believed in.
The Ambitions Foundation creates spaces, support and opportunities that help children and young people build confidence, progress in learning and see more possibilities for their future.
Our story
Why The Ambitions Foundation exists
There are moments in a young person’s life when someone else’s belief makes all the difference.
A teacher, a mentor, a family member, a coach or a professional can sometimes see potential in a young person long before they can see it in themselves.
That belief can rebuild confidence. It can shift what a young person expects of themselves, and open up possibilities that once felt out of reach.
Too often, those moments are left to chance. The Ambitions Foundation exists to create more of them on purpose — pairing belief and meaningful relationships with practical educational support, personal development, skills and access to opportunity.
Our founder’s story
It started with one person who didn’t give up on me.
There was a time when I had given up on myself. Other people’s opinions spoke louder than my own, and after my family broke down I ended up in the care system.
I was fortunate to have my foster carer and a safeguarding officer at my school — people who valued me, cared about me, believed in me and refused to give up on me, even when I had stopped fighting for myself. That belief was enough to help turn my life around.
I started The Ambitions Foundation so that no young person has to go through that alone. Who you are is not defined by your circumstances, and every young person deserves at least one person who believes in them.
“Sometimes one person’s belief is enough.”
Our founder
What we believe
Four beliefs shape everything we build.
Potential is not the problem.
Young people have enormous potential. What isn’t shared equally is access — to confidence, support, encouragement and opportunity.
Being believed in matters.
Confidence often starts to grow when someone else takes you seriously first.
Support should lead somewhere.
Our work should help young people take real steps forward, not simply fill a timetable with activities.
Young people deserve a voice.
Programmes should be shaped with young people, not just delivered to them.
Our three areas
The threads that run through our work.
Every programme connects to at least one of these areas, whatever a young person’s age or starting point.
Identity & Ambition
Helping young people understand who they are, recognise their strengths and think seriously about what they want for themselves.
Learning & Progress
Supporting children and young people to re-engage with learning, close gaps and see that progress is possible for them.
Skills & Opportunity
Opening doors to practical skills, people, places and experiences that make future options feel real and reachable.
Who we support
4–18
Children and young people, from primary school to the edge of adulthood.
Our work spans ages 4–18, and each programme is designed for a particular stage — so a seven-year-old and a seventeen-year-old get support that genuinely fits them.
We have a particular focus on children and young people who face social or economic barriers to opportunity. Those barriers say something about circumstance, not about the young person — and they shouldn’t decide what someone believes is possible.
Our approach
How we work with young people.
Safe, supportive spaces
Environments where young people feel comfortable enough to be themselves, ask questions and try new things.
Practical help
Support that makes a real difference to learning, confidence and next steps.
Meaningful relationships
Consistent adults who listen, notice progress and take young people seriously.
Clear outcomes
Every programme is built around what we hope a young person will leave with.
Listening to young people
Their views shape how our programmes develop over time.
Working together
Collaborating with families, schools and communities around each young person.
Safeguarding first
Clear safeguarding practice runs through everything we do.