NextGenLeaders’ 2026 Project Development Day
We kick-off 2026 with the first intervention of the year from our Schools Programme, NextGenLeaders, The Project Development Day in Leeds. An action-packed day designed to help student teams refine their ideas and transform them into actionable social impact projects. It was brilliant to welcome 137 students from 12 schools across the region, all aiming to create positive change in their communities.
Turning Ideas into Action
The day was designed to support the development of these young leaders, emphasising the critical skills required to make a difference: empathy to deeply understand the issues, creativity to design innovative solutions, and collaborative problem-solving to overcome challenges and maximise impact.
Our guest speaker, Kate Ball, Founder of Mini First Aid
The Project Development day was a clear success, with over 94% of all students leaving session feeling more confident about their project. Our goal in this Project Development was to empower our students. That being said, almost 90% of our Changemakers felt like they are now able to improve their project idea and make an impact on their community. Overall, we are confident that today was a productive day, with almost 100% of all students feeling like it was a useful day.
“It has made me better understand my project and to think more about why I am doing it. I've learned what I need to do to improve it and what my next steps are.“
Collaboration and Impact
Collaboration was at the heart of the day. Students had the opportunity to engage directly with 20 amazing volunteers, including 12 from our fantastic partner, BDO. These volunteers worked closely with the teams, throughout offering feedback and guidance to help take their concepts to the next level.
This time around, we took a closer look at the impact of our corporate volunteers in the session. By measuring outcomes across the day, we were able to clearly see the difference that coaching and mentorship made for our students. All throughout the session, 73% of students worked with a volunteer. From our findings: Students who worked with volunteers showed significantly higher outcomes.
Students that worked with volunteers reported a increased confidence (92% vs 73%). As well as, reported ability to improve their project ideas (93% vs 82%). Additionally, students that worked with volunteers generally reported finding the day more useful (90% vs 75%).
Overall, students who worked with a volunteer on the day reported significantly better outcomes, averaging 15 percentage points higher across all development areas.
“It was a brilliant event and our students gained so much from the interaction and support from the mentors that sat with them”
- Teacher, Garforth
The impact of coaching doesn’t stop with the students. For many of our volunteers, being part of NextGenLeaders is just as meaningful, offering a chance to connect, give back, and use skills in a new and rewarding way.
“Getting involved with Next Gen Leaders allows me to call on personal qualities that I don’t generally get to use. I also believe strongly in providing opportunities that otherwise wouldn’t be available and that is just what Next Gen Leaders is doing.”
A huge thank you to all of the fantastic volunteers and our partner, BDO, for giving up their valuable time and energy to support the next generation of responsible leaders. The power of collaboration usually goes underseen, and this is a great testament of how coaching and mentorship can truly impact the development of our future leaders.
Looking Ahead 2026
By connecting with industry professionals and honing their skills, our young people left empowered to make a genuine impact and we can't wait to see the difference they make over the next few months! We are very excited for what’s to come this year, both with our NextGenLeaders and University programme. We are confident that this year we will be seeing great ideas flourishing and creating community impact.
