Three innovative projects addressing food insecurity, SEND, and climate anxiety win funding from Big Education Challenge, supporting transformative ideas in education
Three bold ideas focused on food insecurity, SEND (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities), and climate anxiety have been selected as winners of the first Big Education Challenge.
The three winners will receive funding from the Big Education Challenge to pilot their projects over the next two years (2024-25). Three runners up will also receive funding to further develop their ideas.
In 2023, the £1m prize fund provided seed funding and capacity-building support to 15 finalists tackling diverse challenges in education.
The prize fund, the first of its kind run by the education charity Big Change, set out to identify, support and reward bold ideas with the potential to transform education and learning.
New projects to support young people with visual impairment, tackle food insecurity, and provide training pathways to address climate anxiety have been chosen as winners of the Big Education Challenge, the £1 million prize fund from education charity, Big Change.
The 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.
The joint-winners of the Gamechanger Prize for experienced social entrepreneurs each receive £225k funding. They are:
CanTeam led by Jonathan Harper, aged 42, CEO Future Foundations, transforms school canteens into vibrant 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, aged 24, 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.
The winner of the Groundbreaker Prize for 18-25 year olds receives £60k funding, is:
Paige Connect – led by Sergio Gosalvez, aged 23, 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.”
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