Our values

Every child is at the centre of our universe

We listen to children by co-designing and collaborating with them, their parents, teachers and community leaders on everything from our research to our programmes’ development.

Inclusivity is in our DNA

Because we know impact is amplified by many diverse voices, we embed inclusivity in everything from employee onboarding to our core offering.

Imagination = innovation = change

We drive innovation through a blend of play, curiosity and creativity - taking risks and nurturing new ideas with a beginner’s mind.

Our impact

Since we launched in 2011, over 140,000 children have participated in our work. As a result, we have also reached many more hundreds of thousands of parents, teachers and carers through our wider work.

Over the past 2 years

Programmes Products

64,200 Children & Young People

63 Schools

5,773 Children with SEND

656

328 Classes London Boroughs 14 Teachers & Education Professionals

3,500

Imagination Boxes distributed to children, including those with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), as well as children in hospitals.

We estimate that the boxes distributed have reached many more through their families and friends.

Platforms

138,000 Unique impressions on iOi at Home (our On-Demand platform)

In 2022, we surveyed 52 teachers and 125 pupils who participated in our Schools Programme:

100% of teachers said that our programme allowed them to use creativity in the curriculum

95% of children said that our programme helped them be creative and think of new ideas

98% of teachers thought that our programme helped children to inspire their self-potential

85% of children said that our programme helped them feel like they can change things for the better

Our beneficiaries

5 to 11 year olds: Within the learning system, these children have fewer opportunities than other age groups We focus our unique expertise here as this is a pivotal time in a child’s learning journey and also in the way they set their aspirations. The importance of this is highlighted by the OECD as it asserts that “by the age of seven, children are already facing limits on their future aspirations”.

Marginalised and disadvantaged children across England: Although we have worked internationally in the past, we have increased our focus on working in greater depth and breadth with marginalised and disadvantaged children across England. As the attainment gap is widening for them, we prioritise children who receive free school meals or whose family receive any kind of means-tested benefit.

SEND (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities): We work in mainstream schools, special school settings and with children not in education, including vulnerable children who are in care or in virtual schools.

Girls and STEM: Girls and women are disproportionally underrepresented in STEM fields (science, technology, engineering and maths) education and jobs. We believe that our creative products, programmes and platforms empower all children and help address the rebalance needed and even though we don’t have targeted interventions for girls we are looking at how we can increase our attention to this issue.

Teachers and community leaders working in areas of high indices of deprivation: The schools and community or youth centres we work with see our work as critical as they have suffered from increased budget cuts which affect their work and find it hard to recruit, train and retain their staff.

36% of our beneficiaries are eligible to receive free school meals (National Avg is 21%)

45% children with English as a second language

10% children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND)

I have a passion for knowledge and when I grow up, I now want to be an engineer.”

“Through the Institute of Imagination (iOi) workshops at St Luke’s, we have developed our imagination and creativity by using technology. We have used micro:bit kits, computer aided design software, virtual reality and even stop motion animation like in the LEGO, and Wallace and Gromit movies.

I think we are engineers when we use CAD. We are film makers when we use stop motion animation. And we are coders when we use micro:bit. It’s like work experience in the classroom!

The iOi have provided us with creative ways to fire up our imagination through using new and exciting technology.

Imagination, technology and creativity are exactly what is needed to succeed in our future. Without imagination, I can’t achieve my dreams. I know that when I’m older, I can use these skills to benefit the public and myself.”

“We work with children and young people from local communities and housing estates across Lambeth and Southwark. A substantial part of the Millennium Community Solutions (MCS) strategy is to identify and partner with organisations with similar values to our own.

It is vitally important that we can identify and communicate the need and the impact that we want to achieve as a community hub, especially to meet the needs of beneficiaries in Lambeth & Southwark. By working with the iOi, we achieved an even greater impact.

The iOi’s Digital Heroes Community Programme initiative launched in 2022 to bring coding and creativity to children and young people, and to communities that are traditionally underrepresented in technology & socioeconomically. Thanks to the iOi, we now work with more than 200 children a week to provide access to coding and creativity. I have never seen young people engaged so much; the impact has been tremendous, I’m actually lost for words.”