Writing funding applications can sometimes feel like an uphill battle, especially in today’s challenging fiscal climate. It can seem as though we’re all characters in a Dickensian scene, pleading, "Please funders, can we have some more?" while navigating a maze of funding criteria and competition for limited resources.
Innovation, too, comes with its fair share of complexities. After all, who in their right mind would willingly take on the challenge of doing more with less, devising solutions to problems not fully understood, and attempting to make a meaningful impact on a fragile and ever-changing world?
Well, I would—and I’m not alone.
What fills me with hope and optimism is the fact that many others share this same determination and commitment to change.
The Innovation Award
Last Thursday, I had the privilege of being named one of the recipients of the Fair Education Alliance (FEA) Innovation Award, a prestigious acknowledgment of innovative efforts aimed at addressing educational inequality. Made possible by the FEA and the generosity of Bloomberg, it is designed to not only offer financial backing but also provide resources, mentorship, and training to support the design and implementation of these impactful projects.
Standing in front of a room filled with over 200 innovators and pioneers, I had just sixty seconds to present our innovation at Tees Valley Education. Now, if you know me, you’ll know that distilling my passion for ‘place based’ innovation into a single minute is like condensing my love for Lego and my PhD thesis into a shot of espresso. I’m bursting with energy, while the audience is left trying to keep up.
Here’s what I shared….
Intro (5 seconds)
Our innovation is called PLACE* (People, Learning, and Community Engagement)
*because we could always have another acronym in the education sector….
PLACE is at the heart of our approach to tackling educational inequality, particularly in regions like the North East, where the effects of child and community poverty are both widespread and deeply entrenched.
The problem (15 seconds)
Child poverty casts a long shadow across the entire UK, but in the North East, it is particularly pervasive. A staggering 89% of constituencies in the region have at least one in four children living in poverty. In Teesside alone, over 50,000 children are growing up in deep poverty, and they are the households we know about.
Our solution (25 seconds)
PLACE is our response to some of these challenges. By developing community-based, sustainable solutions, we aim to tackle the root causes of child poverty. Here are some of the key initiatives we’re rolling out under our PLACE based work at Tees Valley Education.
Bespoke professional development for schools, equipping educators to better understand and address the complex realities of child poverty.
Establishing community hubs in Teesside, designed to listen and respond to local needs through grassroots involvement.
Developing our community magazine, co-created by children and families, which seeks to support families and children in navigating local issues and the cost-of-living crisis.
Expanding our ‘classroom to careers’ programme in collaboration with local industry leaders, bridging the gap between education and employment opportunities.
Our ultimate goal is to foster long-term, authentic change within our communities.
Our call to action (15 seconds)
Although additional funding is essential to help us expand PLACE, we are equally in search of partners. If, like us, you are committed to addressing complex social issues through community collaboration, we would love to hear from you. If you want to dent the universe, why not start with the Tees Valley alongside us?
Beyond the ceremony…
The Fair Education Alliance, hosted at Bloomberg, event was not only a platform to showcase our idea as a multi-academy Trust but also an opportunity to feel recharged by the collective energy of those working tirelessly to transform the education system. Despite the overwhelming challenges faced by the education sector, the event was filled with changemakers whose optimism and determination are contagious. A glance at the FEA membership map reveals just how many inspiring projects and people are working collaboratively towards system change.
The £25,000 award we received is undoubtedly a significant financial boost for PLACE, but it represents much more than a fiscal fist bump. The Fair Education Alliance Innovation Award offers access to invaluable resources, including specialised training, mentoring, and an incubator programme that supports us as we navigate the complex landscape of innovation. Plus, I get to work with some fantastic innovators and change makers and from across different sectors.
This is how the FEA summarise what Innovation and Scaling Awards are….
From the mountaintop into the valley…
The day after the award ceremony, we held our first ‘Incubator’ session—a chance for all the winners to come together, reflect on the journey ahead, and share our hopes and concerns for the future. While the excitement from the previous evening was still very much alive, the reality of the challenges ahead also began to set in. Innovation is, after all, a difficult road to travel. Addressing systemic issues like educational inequality and child poverty requires more than just passion—it demands patience, perseverance, and a willingness to face setbacks head-on.
One of the standout moments from the session was the realisation of how closely this journey might mirror Joseph Campbell’s “The Hero’s Journey.” Right now, we’re at a high point—celebrating our successes and the new partnerships we’ve forged. However, just as the hero’s journey takes them into the unknown, we, too, are embarking on a path that will be filled with both challenges and triumphs. It’s claimed you can see these phases of Hero's Journey in many movies and across literature. George Lucas, for example, is said to have credited Campbell's work as influencing his Star Wars ‘Skywalker’ saga.
(Picture - Tonga, 2022)
At the start of the session, we were asked to build Lego models that represented how we were feeling about our work. As I heard the familiar sound of ‘clicks’ and bricks together around the room, it was a reminder of how vital experimentation and creativity are in the innovation process (fun also just happens to be one of the FEA’s core values!). The enthusiasm in the room was palpable as everyone eagerly shared their visions for the future.
Another thought-provoking exercise during the session was “Horizon Scanning,” where we looked at how the shifting sands of the education system have moved in recent years. The rising cost of living, political shifts, and stretched school budgets have all altered our terrain significantly, arguably making old strategies less effective and highlighting the need for new, collaborative approaches.
PLACE is not just an initiative for us at Tees Valley Education —it’s a concept that continues to grow in importance for us. If you are working on similar innovations in your community, we’d love to connect. Let’s exchange ideas, resource and build a better future together.
This Substack will be used to help capture some of our key learning and insights (and not just the joyful ones too). We want to be transparent about our learning and developments of PLACE. I’m keen to celebrate the mountaintop experiences, but I want to see them go into the valley too for me, my colleagues and those that we serve. In our case, the Tees Valley.