DUDGEON

Supporting four very different projects in Norfolk, the latest grants from the Dudgeon Community Fund clearly demonstrate that STEM education (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) does not have to be confined to the classroom.

The challenge for young people from Greenpower Education Trust is to design and build an electric car to race at Greenpower events. An increasing number of schools and colleges in Norfolk continue to take up this challenge, and the Dudgeon grant is enabling Greenpower to run two F24 race heats at the Hethel circuit in Norfolk during 2024, with winners from these heats going through to the finals event at Goodwood in October.

Greenpower race heat, Hethel, May 2024 (Image courtesy of Smithgelder Photography)

The Excelsior Trust maintains and manages the heritage sail-training vessel Excelsior, and the grant will contribute to the cost of taking 12 young people, aged up to and including school year 13, on a two-week sailing voyage aboard Excelsior. This is a project which seeks to inspire young people to consider career opportunities in the maritime and offshore industries.

A grant to the East of England Energy Group (EEEGR) will enable its Skills for Energy teams to have a significant presence in the STEM Village at the 2024 Royal Norfolk Show. The Skills for Energy programme aims to address the skills needs in the energy sector, and over the two-day event (26/27 June), hands-on activities and workshops for schools and families will seek to encourage young people to pursue STEM careers.

The 2024 Great Yarmouth Arts Festival has received a grant to enable it to work with engineering and joinery students at East Coast College. The students will design and construct a windmill, with sails similar to offshore wind turbine blades, powered by electricity generated through a bicycle. The windmill, accompanied by illustrative panels created by the students, will then be displayed at various venues in Great Yarmouth to emphasise the importance of Great Yarmouth and the surrounding area in the production of offshore energy.

The Dudgeon Community Fund aims to inspire the next generation of scientists, innovators and investors, for which it receives a donation of at least £125,000 per annum from the Dudgeon Offshore Wind Farm, which is operated by Equinor.

After the recent meeting of the Dudgeon Community Fund which awarded these grants, Dudgeon Plant Manager Chris Hosea said:

“I am very impressed by the innovative thinking that has gone into the applications we have just considered, and these grants really do take STEM learning ‘out of the classroom’ and into the real world.”

Grant applications from schools and colleges in the Great Yarmouth, North Norfolk and Breckland regions of Norfolk can be submitted to the Fund at any time, with funding awards being made four times a year.

The Dudgeon Community Fund is administered by the Norfolk Community Foundation (www. norfolkfoundation.com )