Big Ideas win pupils an award
The efforts of a team of Bannockburn High pupils to help feed those in need in the community has seen them claim a top national award.
It all came about due to the school’s involvement in the Uk-wide Big Ideas initiative, which invites young people to come forward with their own big ideas and projects to tackle key issues of importance to them.
Two of the school’s teams - made up of S2 pupils were successful in making it through to the regional finals earlier this year, with the ‘Food for All’ project then being selected as the only Scottish representative for the national final.
And the accolades didn’t stop there, as the Bannockburn team went on to scoop top prize at the virtual national final of the Solutions for the Planet competition against 20 other schools based across the UK last month.
Food for All is a project that aims to tackle the key issue of food poverty, with the students initially aiming to set up a cafe that would redistribute food to those in need alongside a healthy eating campaign.
However, lockdown forced the team into a change of plans and focused on creating and distribuing food parcels to familiies across the community, with the pupils raising £785 from their initial £200 target to create the food parcels.
They now aim to work on the project of distributing the parcels one morning a week.
The winning team told the Observer: “We are over the moon that we won. We just cannot believe it and we were so grateful to have the opportunity to take part in the competition.
“This opportunity was something that allowed us to develop new skills and built up our confidence.
“Our original Big Idea was a service that entails a café located in community centres in our local community, that sells low cost foods and educates families in healthy eating.
“In the coming weeks we plan to start making the food parcels and distributing them across the Stirling area.
“We need as many people to donate as much as they can, it can be £1- £20, any donation big or small is greatly appreciated. We want to help these families that are less fortunate.”
Teacher Nicole Beattie, who has working alongside the team of pupils, added: “Having the opportunity to work with such an amazing team of young people, with such a heartfelt idea and to be able to work through such an incredible programme that Solutions for the Planet have offered, has made me very proud to be a teacher here in Bannockburn High School – this type of work and involvement is one of the reasons I love my job in teaching so much.
“My highlight of the competition has been watching the confidence of our young people grow and knowing that we are making a difference in society now.
“I am extremely grateful to have been given the opportunity to mentor the teams and I am excited to see how our idea will grow in the future.”
Stirling MP Alyn Smith was also quick to add his own words of congratulations to the Bannockburn High team’s achievement.
He said: “I was extremely grateful to be invited along to the Big Ideas 2020 event, and cheer on my home team from Bannockburn High School.
“Eilidh D, Eilidh J, Ewan and Imogen were articulate, clear and their passion to tackle food poverty shone through extremely well.
“I’m very proud they’ve won first place in this Ukwide competition, and championed the values and beliefs of their school and city. I give my thanks to them and hope their project continues to make a real difference to those in need in Stirling’s communities.”