Woodland Trust offers £20,000 prize pot

The Woodland Trust has opened a £20,000 competition to young people for projects tackling climate change.

Igniting Innovation offers funding and mentorship from the UK’s largest woodland conservation charity for six individuals or small groups, aged between 16 and 25, wanting to launch their own environmental projects.

Previous winners have included a clothes upcycling workshop, a campaign to protect ancient trees and wildlife photography exhibitions.

Six individuals or small groups will win up to £6000 project funding each, along with mentorship from leading industry experts to deliver projects which directly fight the climate crisis.

Applications close in January and then the top 18 applications will be invited to take part in workshops teaching them how to professionally pitch their project idea.

Finalists will present their environmental innovations to a panel of celebrity judges and experts.

Grace Howourth, Woodland Trust head of youth reimagined, said: “We need more young people to become advocates for woods and trees, and we are excited to be able to open this opportunity again to help fund important projects which will directly address the climate and nature crisis.”

Moiz Siddiqi, a previous winner of the competition, which helped him to launch his business Me-Eco, said winning the Igniting Innovation competition has been “genuinely life-changing".

Project Me-Eco is a mindfulness-based seeded paper product, which enables people to write down their worries on seeded paper, plant it and watch it grow alongside their own wellbeing.

Moiz said: “Woodland Trust, their youth team and amazing mentors allowed Project Me-Eco to develop from a basic concept to a fully-fledged start-up business with the foundation it needed.

"It helped us in understanding what we needed for our next steps, what worked and what didn’t, all in a supported space.”

Applications close on Monday, January 20, 2025.

For more information on how to apply, please visit https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/

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