What's on the Horizon for 2026

For many, the start of the year is a time for resolutions - and KPE4 is no different. We have always been ambitious but recognise that we often don’t articulate those ambitions as well as we could. This year, we resolved to change that.

As a result, we have updated our website to make our vision and strategy clearer; and we are committed to better communicating what we are working on, what we are learning and where KPE4’s focus is heading next. So with that in mind, read on to find out more...

Our Vision and Approach

It is our vision that every young person growing up in Scotland can find meaningful work. Our strategic approach to realising this ambition relies on a horizon framework, loosely borrowed from the McKinsey Horizon model, and guided by a small set of core principles: building trust rather than defaulting to risk aversion; a willingness to innovate and challenge the status quo; prioritising delivery over unnecessary administration; and building shared understanding, alongside learning, reflection and continuous improvement.

Horizon One

Horizon One is where most of our time and funding is invested as we focus on our short-term goal to improving access and outcomes for young people in Pilton and Muirhouse. We do this by investing in local charities and organisations building strong relationships and providing flexible, multi-year funding. This trust-based approach is built on our belief that charities understand their communities best, and that lasting change is built on secure foundations rather than short-term fixes.

This work is focused around 4 strategic pillars (aligned to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs) which are: nailing the basics so young people have the foundations to learn and develop; ensuring every child has access to role models and supportive adults; fostering belief so young people can broaden their horizons and find fulfilling employment; and collaborating to better meet young people’s needs.

Horizon Two

Horizon two is focused on scaling impact. There are many ways this could be achieved; it could be through sharing our learnings and approach with Charity Trusts and Foundations working across other geographical areas; or we might support charities to access alternative funding or income sources; or there may be ways we can support our core charities to build their own capacity to drive greater impact.

One area we are working on currently is our own learning and collaboration event, planned for March. Through a variety of speakers and workshops we hope to encourage peer support, connection and shared learning between core charities we support.

Horizon Three

Horizon Three has a longer-term focus, aiming to drive systemic and structure change at scale. Our work here is focused on developing pilots, helping (financially or otherwise) to raise awareness/lobbying around key issues (such as social media and smartphone usage in young people) and testing/scaling innovative approaches and funding models to drive change.

An example of this work is our computer science braided career pilot with Glasgow University and Skyscanner which you can read more about here.