Project Blyth

Students involved in the Formula 24 project that we featured in last month’s edition were delighted to receive their new work overalls donated by Graham Janes of Bodymax. 22 overalls in total were donated for the team of 20 students and 2 teachers. The students told us how much they are enjoying the challenge of designing an environment-friendly single seat electric car to race against other schools in the area in the Greenpower Challenge. This will take place on Sunday 16th July in Queens Gardens Hull as part of the City of Culture celebrations. All the work is being done by Year 9 pupils in their own time with an equal number of girls and boys taking part. The following week the school received a visit from Vaughan Curnow who is the Project Co-ordinator of Greenpower – an educational charity with 600 volunteers which aims to inspire students to study engineering and to enter the industry. Vaughan set up the project in Cornwall which has seen the involvement of over 40,000 children over the past ten years. He was invited by Siemens to develop the project in the East Riding and has managed to recruit 20 Primary schools (he is still on the look-out for more), 35 Secondary schools and 10 groups of 16-25 year olds as well as funding from 55 local companies. The local challenge is called Project Blyth after a famous wind power pioneer and reflects the Humber’s growing status as the heart of the UK’s offshore wind industry. The race, which will take place at 8 am, will be the first street race of its kind ever and will involve 50 vehicles. The winners will be the team that manages to cover the longest distance within the allotted time. Mrs Egan, head of the school’s Art, Design and Technology department said that the scheme is so popular that they would like to enable pupils to take part in more of the races in years to come. However funding would need to be sought so if there are any other businesses who would like to become involved please contact the school. The Rotary Club donated £1,300 to pay for the kit and Elliot’s Eggs also made a generous donation.

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