Building Brighter Futures Impact

Since 2025, Building Brighter Futures has brought iOi's creative, hands-on approach into family life, engaging 455 children, parents, carers and educators through eight co-design sessions and two immersive STEAM family events at Young V&A and English Martyrs. Over the course of the programme, families explored dream playhouses, storytelling, 3D cardboard prototyping and ScribbleBots — with 274 Imagination Boxes sent home to keep the creativity going beyond the sessions themselves.

Key Impact Areas

  • Stronger Family Bonds: Shared, hands-on design challenges gave families dedicated time and space to create together — something many said rarely happened at home.

  • Creative Thinking Gains: A 15% increase in children's creative thinking (DAT measurement) and a 35% average increase across holistic skill development, including problem-solving, communication and confidence in making and building.

  • Caregiver Confidence: Parents and carers consistently valued creativity but named confidence — not interest — as the real barrier to doing it at home; the programme's co-design and take-home resources were designed to close that gap.

  • High Engagement: An 89 Net Promoter Score from caregivers, and a 253% increase in views of 'iOi at home' resources following the programme.

  • Reaching Families Who Need It Most: Participating schools had 246% more pupils with English as an additional language, 53% more pupils eligible for free school meals in the last six years, and 85% more pupils with SEN support than the national average.

What We Heard From Children

Four co-design sessions invited students to think about what play means to them and to create their own "play manifestos." Their answers were candid and often unexpected:

"My mum doesn't draw very much with me. She thinks her drawings of mermaids aren't 'good enough'. I love them though."

"I wish we could have more time doing this."

"They're always on their phones. They're so naughty. I want them to put them down."

Caregiver Voices

A further four sessions brought children and caregivers together, surfacing a clear pattern… it wasn't a lack of interest in creativity holding families back, but time, mess, uncertainty and confidence.

"It's fun to sit down and draw."

— Parent

"Home isn't really seen as a place to be creative, or a creative space, with their families... it isn't a thing they do together at home."

— Facilitator observation

"I do [go to museums], but not with children. I go with people my age. It's a nice respite."


— Parent

Immersive Family Events

Two STEAM-based family events, co-designed with schools, gave families a space away from home distractions to play and problem-solve together:

"We would never do this at home [but coming here] without all the distractions made us want to play."

"It's been great to be here today, I've not been since my childhood."

"[We] don't always find the time to play at home... thank you."

Looking Ahead

Creative family time works best when it's given dedicated space, low barriers to mess and uncertainty, and practical resources caregivers can pick up with confidence.

Building Brighter Futures impact will continue to feed into iOi’s future projects, where we combine co-design, shared family experiences and take-home resources to help more families build creativity into everyday life.