Winners of the Make It Happen Challenge announced
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We were delighted to be one of the sponsors of the Make It Happen Challenge (MIHC), which was a project organised by WINN, a Worcestershire County Council and Worcestershire LEP programme. The Make It Happen Challenge ran for eight weeks and focused on Worcestershire’s growing innovation community.
This year, the winners were Tom Doyle and Paulo Jamece, who received £16,000 worth of prizes from the competition. We contributed prizes worth a total of £2,000 and will be supporting the winners with their business ideas. Tom and Paulo were presented with their prizes during a Press Day at The Kiln earlier this month. Also attending the event were Dr Jagvir Purewal and Greg Smith from our Birmingham office who took the opportunity to speak with the winners about their businesses.
Tom Doyle, who won the Health & Care category is a director and founder of NeuroHeadway. His organisation provides practical resources for personal, health and social education (PHSE) teachers to help students with their mental health and wellbeing.
Tom said: “What an absolutely wonderful piece of news to receive and to move forward with our plans within the subject of emotional wellbeing. Getting started with the sponsors and providing essential materials to people during this strange and challenging time is something I’ve wanted to be a part of for many years. The opportunity to do this with other contributors and to also receive additional guidance is such an exciting, rewarding initiative.”
Paulo Jamece, who won the Science & Technology category is a director and founder of Sleeping Bubbles, the UK’s first supplier of inflatable bubble tents. Paulo said: “I am delighted and honoured to win the Make It Happen Challenge. Working with sponsors for the next six months will give me the opportunity to showcase this amazing idea. Thank you to all the WINN team, very exciting times ahead.”
The two winners will now receive business support funding of £5,000 and access to a bespoke support package worth £11,000. It will allow them to develop their ideas, products or services and help them secure success with the help of professional advice and assistance.
Dr Jagvir Purewal and Greg Smith said they are looking forward to supporting Tom and Paulo with their businesses. Jagvir said: “Congratulations to Tom from NeuroHeadway and Paulo from Sleeping Bubbles on their fantastic businesses – they are both deserving winners. We look forward to helping support them to explore how the intellectual property associated with the businesses and innovative services can be protected and exploited to help grow and protect the future of their businesses.”
Greg added: “It has been exciting to see how much innovation there is in Worcestershire, especially in the science & technology and health & care sectors. During the pandemic we have seen how important these sectors have been and we are thrilled to be able to support these businesses and help contribute to their long-term success.”
