On Tuesday 12th November, we were delighted to welcome 60 students from schools all across the country to the first Wickes Wellbeing Challenge” Grand Finals. Students from schools in Sheffield to Swindon and Durham to Torquay made their way to the Wickes Support Centre in Watford to compete to be crowned the “Wickes Wellbeing Challenge” champions!
Wickes funded 14 schools to take part in the challenge with a focus on Year 9 and 10 students. In teams, students were asked to identify an empty, disused or vandalised space within their school and consider how this space could be re-imagined using Wickes products to promote inclusivity and physical, mental or emotional wellbeing. The challenge was delivered to whole year groups, with the winning team from each school invited to the finals event.
An action packed day was planned for the students and alongside presenting their ideas to our morning judging panels, they also took part in office tours and workshop demonstrations – an excellent opportunity for the students to see an innovative place of work.
Armed with props and posters, our teams met our morning judges and in true “Dragons Den” style, had three and a half minutes to present their re-imagined spaces to our judging panels, made up of representatives from the Wickes Support Centre. From student farms to cosy, relaxing wellbeing spaces, the students presented their exciting new spaces confidently and our morning judges were impressed with the standard of each presentation.
Of course, only a handful of teams could move forward to our afternoon session where the shortlisted students had the opportunity to present their ideas again – this time to a much larger audience made up of Wickes employees and their fellow students. We were delighted to welcome such a diverse panel of judges to the afternoon session, who represented all areas of Wickes:
Fraser Longden, Chief Operating Officer
Gary Kibble, Chief Marketing and Digital Officer
Sonia Astill, Chief People Officer
Following an afternoon of excellent student pitches, congratulations to “Team Zen” from Oasis Academy Sholing ( representing the Hedge End hub) who were crowned champions and to our runners up, “Team Space Invaders” from The Duston School (representing the Northampton hub).
The judges were impressed with “Team Zen” and their idea for transforming an unused space in the school into a Zen Garden which would provide a calm, sensory-friendly retreat for neurodiverse students.
Students from Oasis Academy Sholing said “It was such an amazing experience to be part of the challenge. We feel ncredibly proud of everything we have achieved as a group and as individuals. We have learnt some valuable skills about marketing, budgets, how to work as a team and how to present well. With Wickes’s support we will be able to provide a space that gives Oasis Academy Sholing students an escape from the stresses of daily life at school.”
Another student added: “I never would have had the confidence to stand and present to a group of people like this before taking part in this challenge.”
Ben Dyer, co-founder of The Inspirational Learning Group said, “What a fantastic day at Wickes Support Centre! The students were brilliant, generating great ideas and demonstrating excellent teamwork. It was a real pleasure to observe their presentations. We are delighted to be building on our relationship with Wickes as we extend this challenge into The National Careers Challenge for Year 10 students. This will enable even more young people across the country to engage with the challenge and as Wickes as a potential future employer!”.
