By Mrs Bezzer (Senior Tutor, Sixth Form and EPQ Supervisor)

During the final week of last term, the celebratory event of the 2025 iteration of the Ready2Lead? programme took place.

Hosted at Bedford School, and welcoming students from Sixth Forms all over Bedford Borough, the evening provided much to be proud of and inspired by for the staff and local dignitaries attending. For the students involved in the leadership programme, it was an opportunity to showcase their projects - aimed at improving the local environment for children and young people - and show how they had moved from ideas to reality in the space of a term. For the guests attending, it was an opportunity to be informed and amazed at the scale and scope of the students’ projects.

Amongst the illustrious guest list were names such as Mayor Tom Wootton, Laura Church (CEO Bedford Borough Council), High Sheriff Camilla King and HM Lord Lieutenant of Bedfordshire Susan Lousada. All who attended the event were very impressed with the outstanding work that the students had produced, not to mention the leadership qualities they had so evidently gained along the way.

Bedford Girls’ School were pleased to have two groups working on separate projects for this year’s programme. Both groups have been invited to discuss their projects in more detail with Laura Church (CEO Bedford Borough Council) which is a fantastic testament to the students’ hard work and enterprise. A brief overview of their projects is below:

BGS – Isla, Isabelle, Harri, Ava, Eva & Erin

Urban Angels is a safer travel initiative for girls in Bedford town centre, using mapped routes and safety checkpoints accessed via a website.

BGS – Emily, Pranya, Samia, Aditi, Reyah & Grace

Bedford Bloom Project, transforming overlooked, abandoned and unused spaces into small pockets of nature to make the town greener and more vibrant.

Erin from the Urban Angels group, offered some reflections on her first foray into leadership: “Being part of one of the Ready2Lead groups this year was an incredibly rewarding experience. Our group decided to focus on safety while walking and travelling around Bedford, proposing changes to street lighting and creating a website to plan the safest routes. During the final showcase, we pitched our ideas to influential members of Bedford Council and were thrilled to receive such positive feedback. Hearing that our project might be implemented in the town was an incredible feeling. Being actively involved in making Bedford safer and better for others has been an amazing opportunity, and it has opened doors for me and my group that we wouldn’t have had otherwise. I would recommend the Ready2Lead programme to anyone considering it, as it really allows you to turn ideas into real impact.”