Young Art Oxford
New partnership with Young Art Oxford!
Young Art Oxford has been running since 2008 and in that time has become a regular fixture on many schools’ yearly plans. Combining forces with the volunteers at Young Art Oxford, Rafiki Thabo will now help run and grow this amazing competition, with all money raised going to our programmes, truly cementing the idea of ‘children helping children’.
Young Art is Oxford is a fantastic opportunity for children to be recognised and feel good about their artistic abilities. Both teachers and parents regularly comment on the tremendous boost to a child’s confidence that is gained as a result of being selected and seeing their art displayed in a professional gallery.
The competition is open to all school children (including those who are home schooled) in Oxfordshire from Reception to Year 9. Entries are welcome from all schools – state, independent or SEN. The number of Oxfordshire schools participating has grown over the years as has the number of entries which reached over 3,000 in 2024.
The theme for 2026 is ‘Little Things That Matter’ and we know our amazing judges, all well-known professionals and artists, will have a tough task selecting the prize winners!
How it works
Each year a theme is set and communicated to schools, and children submit their pictures after February half term. These are organised into four different age categories, and pictures are then selected to appear in an exhibition held over two days in May at the Ashmolean Museum.
We exhibit about 600 pictures and provided a school submits at least five pieces of art at least one will be displayed. Over the two days, thousands of visitors to the Ashmolean Museum admire the children’s artwork: the Ashmolean’s usual visitors as well as family and friends of the children whose art is being displayed. Several schools also arrange trips to the Museum to view the exhibited artworks. Entry to the exhibition is free.
We hold an informal prize giving ceremony on the Friday evening of the exhibition, where judges award prizes and say a few words about each of the winning pictures. This event is ticketed (entry, however, remains free) as we are limited to 400 people.
Please contact Young Art Oxford if you would like your school to get involved.
How you can get involved
CHILDREN – If you would like your school to take part in Young Art Oxford 2026 please talk to your teacher and share a link to the Young Art Oxford website. If you home school and would like to find out more about taking part, please e-mail [email protected] or enter your details via the Young Art Oxford contact page.
PARENTS – Encourage your children’s school to contact Young Art Oxford here! Then just enjoy seeing your child express themselves with art and share their immense pride when arriving at the exhibition to see their picture on display at the Ashmolean! There is a small fee per picture entry of £2, but you will be able to attend the exhibition free of charge and have the opportunity to book your free tickets to the prize giving ceremony. There will be an opportunity to purchase Young Art Oxford merchandise and of course order your child’s picture in a number of high-quality options.
SCHOOLS – All Oxfordshire schools are welcome and encouraged to take part, this includes state, independent and SEN educational establishments. You can get in touch via the Young Art Oxford website or just drop Young Art Oxford a line.
BUSINESSES – Each year we print a fabulous Exhibition Brochure and the ads space is very popular with local businesses, independents schools, holiday camp suppliers, galleries, estate agents, Oxfordshire attractions, personal development and art classes and many more! We offer the opportunity to submit a range of ad sizes and can share more information about placement options and pricing on request. To express your interest, e-mail Janne, our Partnerships and Events Manager.
SERVICE PROVIDERS – We require a number of professional services to make this a truly special event for the school children and a great fundraising event for Rafiki Thabo Foundation. Every cost we can reduce, or better still remove, means more money goes directly to supporting our work providing scholarships to the vulnerable children we support in Kenya, Uganda and Lesotho. So if you are a printer, framer, PR agency, magazine, newspaper, radio station, photographer or merchandise supplier and would consider an explorative chat about our requirements, charity friendly or pro-bono pricing, and want to understand what we can do for you in return… then do please get in touch soonest as the wheels are already in motion for 2026! Please email Janne, our Partnerships and Events Manager.
Your impact
We hope to raise £15,000 through Young Art Oxford 2026. What would that enable Rafiki Thabo Foundation to do in our programme countries?
- The £2 entry fee per picture can pay for a whole week of nutritious school meals to a vulnerable child in Uganda.
- If everyone at a primary school with 175 students enters our competition, that can pay for an entire year at school for a child in Uganda for whom education is the only path to a better future.
- For every 275 entries, we can pay for a year at vocational college for a young person living with a disability in Kenya, enabling them to learn skills such as carpentry or catering so they can set up their own businesses.
- 3,000 entered pictures would raise £6,000 – that can pay for 20 disadvantaged children in Lesotho to go to secondary school for a year.
- A pro bono exhibition photographer would save us enough to pay for a child in Uganda to attend school for two whole years or for nine of the poorest students at a rural secondary school in Uganda to receive a hot, nutritional school meal every day for an entire year.
- If a printer donated the printing of our Exhibition Brochure and Winners’ Certificates this would save us enough on exhibition cost to pay for one of our secondary school graduates to move onto university with the first year’s fees covered!
Against the stark reality that in Uganda alone, 5 million children never get an education, your support truly will make a tremendous difference! One year at secondary school in Uganda costs an average of £350 per child. This is two-thirds of the annual average household income, so most families simply cannot afford it. Imagine the impact your entry, attendance, or pro bono support could have, and the life transforming difference your support will have on these children’s lives. £15,000 can ensure that 9 vulnerable children in Uganda can attend their entire 5-year secondary schooling, without fear of needing to drop out when funds run out or their family keeping them at home to undertake manual labour to help support themselves and their family… by being in school they are one less mouth to worry about…
Children like Mary*
Whilst the vast majority of our scholars are in secondary or higher education, as primary education is free in the countries in which we operate, we support a number of children with disabilities at pre-primary and primary levels who require a learning environment which is more suited to their needs – for which fees must be paid.
Mary is one of those students – she has a learning difficulty and we have been supporting her at an inclusive school (where children with disabilities learn alongside their non-disabled peers, and the teachers and schools are well equipped to teach both disabled and non-disabled children). Since joining the school, she has made great progress and she has recently ‘graduated’ from pre-primary level and can’t wait to start primary school next year.
We are committed to supporting her for as long as she wants to continue with her education so this is truly a long-term commitment! Mary comes from a poor family where her mother, the main bread winner, does casual jobs to make ends meet – without our support, Mary would not have been able to access early years education. She may have been able to join her local primary school but it is unlikely that her learning needs would have been properly met and she may well have dropped out. Now she is in a setting where she can thrive and ultimately claim that bright future ahead of her!
* Not her real name
