Winners announced of £1mn prize fund for projects transforming education & learning
Melanie May | 24 January 2024 | News
Education charity Big Change has announced that projects to support young people with visual impairment, tackle food insecurity, and provide training pathways to address climate anxiety are the winners of its £1 million prize fund, Big Education Challenge.
The Big Education Challenge prize fund is the first of its kind run by Big Change and was set up to identify, support and reward bold ideas with the potential to transform education and learning in the UK. It first launched in 2022.
The joint winners of the Gamechanger Prize for experienced social entrepreneurs each receive £225k funding. They are:
Advertisement
CanTeam – led by Jonathan Harper, CEO Future Foundations, which transforms school canteens into community hubs by equipping schools to offer nutritious and delicious food after school, co-designed and delivered with young people, their families and the local community. CanTeam creates a sustainable solution to food insecurity, encouraging healthy eating, and enabling young people to learn and thrive.
Force of Nature – led by Clover Hogan, which addresses students’ climate anxiety by providing training pathways to help young people prepare for their roles in a green economy, building their confidence, developing their skills, and helping them find the climate solutions they wish to lead.
Clover Hogan, Force of Nature, said:
“Young people have inherited the climate crisis, yet we’re being locked out of decisions governing our future. We need to equip this generation with the knowledge and tools to take action, and the opportunities to influence change. With support from the Big Education Challenge, we’re piloting training to help hundreds of young people develop skills in public speaking, advising decision-makers and supporting peers and teachers within schools. We’re so grateful to Big Change for this follow-up funding, and excited to build on the momentum of the work we started in 2023.”
The winner of the Groundbreaker Prize for 18-25 year olds receives £60k funding, and is:
Paige Connect – led by Sergio Gosalvez, which supports young blind and partially-sighted people to connect with learning and work independently or alongside others. By using technology to upgrade existing braille writers, Paige Connect enables better communication and collaboration with sighted teachers, family and friends.
The winning projects are still at the early stage of development and will now go on to pilot their ideas. During 2023, each project leader received expert support and funding alongside other finalists to help them develop and test their idea.
The Big Education Challenge has also awarded a total of £170,000 in funding to three runners up. These projects are helping young people deal with loss and trauma by developing social emotional skills, offering digital internships for young people who might otherwise struggle to access creative careers, and providing entrepreneurship skills and mentorship for young people at risk of joining gangs.
Essie North, CEO, Big Change said:
“In launching the Big Education Challenge, we called for ideas that could help transform education and the winners are doing just that. They have turned their experience into insight and action – bravely testing and bringing their new ideas to life. These leaders, and all the finalists, are challenging assumptions about what education is and its purpose, about who gets to lead change, and the nature of the solutions needed.
“Discovering these brilliant ideas and people should give us all hope. Change in education is hard, and it takes brave and passionate people working together to make it happen. We are incredibly proud to support their journey, to show that change is possible, and I can’t wait to see the impact they will have on this and future generations.”
Related posts
Charity launches £1mn prize fund for ideas to transform education system
£7mn Maths Excellence Fund launches to support secondary school aged children in England
700 retailers celebrate 175th anniversary of Retail Trust
Toni&Guy Charitable Foundation celebrates raising £700,000 for the Variety Children's Hospital
About Melanie May
Melanie May is a journalist and copywriter specialising in writing both for and about the charity and marketing services sectors since 2001. She can be reached via thepurplepim.com.