A project to build a fully operational light aircraft, STEM training toolkits for schools and a car engineering workshop for girls are just some of the exciting projects amongst the successful applicants in The Millennium Point Charitable Trust’s Small Grants Programme 2021.
Building on the continued success of the programme, The Millennium Point Charitable Trust received over 70 applications from not-for-profit organisations bidding for a share of thousands of pounds available to help fund STEM (science, technology, engineering, and maths) projects and initiatives across the West Midlands.
Recipients of this year’s funding include*:
- STEM High Fliers, Wolverhampton: School Build-a-plane – Year 8 students will gain practical, first-hand engineering experience through building a fully operational light aircraft
- Bloodhound Education: ‘sustainable futures’ toolkits for 3,000 pupils and 20 teachers at 10 primary schools in deprived areas of Coventry
- Sutton Coldfield Grammar School For Girls, Birmingham: Sutton Gram-Mechanics – equipment and an old car to create a workshop facility to learn automotive engineering skills
- Kings Rise Academy, Kingstanding, Birmingham: Build To Succeed – a 10-month LEGO/Formula 1 inspired challenge
- Ahead Partnership: Digitech Festival at Millennium Point for 240 female KS3 students
- Forest Hills Primary School, Rugeley: eight-month programme to discover the wonders of space through a mobile digital planetarium
The Small Grants programme, which offers grants split across two levels of funding and makes up to £20,000 available to individual applicants, is made possible by the commercial activity that takes place in the 46,450 sqm landmark Millennium Point building. It feeds back into the charitable trust, enabling it to donate and invest in STEM-related organisations, projects and initiatives.
Abbie Vlahakis, CEO of Millennium Point said: “After an incredibly challenging 18 months which saw our events and exhibitions programme massively hit by the pandemic, it’s wonderful that we’ve still been able to support so many great STEM-related initiatives.
“Every year the quality and volume of applications that the Millennium Point Charitable Trust receives is phenomenal, and this year is no exception; we can’t wait to see how the successful projects unfold in the coming months.”
Since its launch in 2014, Millennium Point Charitable Trust has donated over £2.7m to successful recipients funding a diverse range of projects across education, STEM-focused charities, sporting charities and museums.
The next round of applications for 2022 will open next month on 4th October 2021.
*The full list of grant recipients can be found on the Millennium Point website.
