Building Brighter Futures

1 Overview

Building Brighter Futures is an Institute of Imagination (iOi) programme, funded by the Aldgate and All Hallows Foundation and free to schools. It runs short co-design sessions in four Tower Hamlets primary schools, each ending with a family event.

• Option 1 — Thomas Buxton, Osmani and William Davis — ends at the Young V&A on Sunday 21 June 2026.
• Option 2 — English Martyrs — ends with a family workshop at school on Saturday 27 June 2026.

Each school had two sessions of up to 60 minutes: a family session (parents, carers and children) and a children-only session.

2 What we delivered

Seven sessions across four schools, April to June 2026: 204 children and 120 parents and carers.

The Option 1 activity journey

How the activities, prompts and links to the Young V&A collection run across the three Option 1 stages.

1 · Family session

WhereSchool

Activities100 Stories; ScribbleBots

SkillsCutting and decorating 2D cardboard; experimenting together; building a collective artwork

Prompt100 Stories — your favourite play space. ScribbleBots — no prompt; open-ended.

Link to V&A collectionStorytelling in the Adventure Zone; dolls' houses.

2 · Children's session

WhereSchool

ActivityInterlocking houses

SkillsTurning 2D cardboard into 3D structures; using a cardboard saw and hole punch

PromptDesign your favourite play space at home.

Link to V&A collectionDolls' houses and dioramas.

3 · Family day

WhereYoung V&A

ActivityLightbox

SkillsWorking with light, shadow and negative space in cardboard

PromptA favourite memory of playing together as a family.

Link to V&A collectionDioramas — a glowing, diorama-like box.

The Option 2 activity journey

English Martyrs ran the same family session, then co-designed and held its own event at school instead of visiting the museum.

1 · Family session

WhereSchool

Activities100 Stories; ScribbleBots

SkillsCutting and decorating 2D cardboard; experimenting together; building a collective artwork

Prompt100 Stories — your favourite play space. ScribbleBots — no prompt; open-ended.

2 · Children's session

WhereSchool

ActivityPosters — a future city with future vehicles and robots, plus a cake-stand poster

SkillsDrawing and designing; planning their own event

PromptCo-design the Saturday family event.

3 · Family day

WhereSchool hall

ActivityFamily workshop — vehicles and the future

SkillsOpen-ended making and problem-solving

PromptTheme: vehicles and the future.

3 Intended vs delivered

Where the delivered programme differs from the roadmap offered to schools.

4 Open items before 21 June

• Young V&A capacity. The studio holds 30; William Davis signed up 56, Thomas Buxton 34, Osmani to confirm. Needs a solution. (Is 30 per school or in total?)
• Osmani numbers — still to confirm.
• Lightbox preparation — buy boxes (about 120), prepare materials, and assemble about 120 Imagination Boxes. Confirm the museum trail.
• How we measure impact — still to agree. We have a baseline from the Divergent Association Task (DAT, a short creativity measure) but no agreed outcomes or endline.
• Team session notes — still to gather for Thomas Buxton, Osmani and English Martyrs.
• Data note — the execution board has the William Davis dates reversed (correct: children 19 May, family 20 May), and "7" under Schools means seven events across four schools.

Photos by school

Thomas Buxton

Osmani

William Davis

English Martyrs