Win up to £2,000 for your school

Want to make a difference for wildlife at your school? By entering our new competition you could win £2,000 to make that happen and meet Steve Backshall!

Here’s all you need to know…

Your proposal must:

• Aim to increase biodiversity on your school grounds and inspire young people to take action for nature
• Include a filled out copy of the entry form
• Include a simplistic aerial map of the habitats at your school
• Include examples of what you would like to create
• Include a letter of commitment to fulfil your project with the prize money from your school’s senior leadership team
• Include a breakdown of project costs that total no more than £2,000

Winners will be announced on 13 June, be awarded the money to deliver their project and attend a meet and greet with Steve Backshall at the Suffolk Youth Climate Conference on 2 July 2025.

Deadline: 5pm, 5 June 2025

Your proposal – this is where you can really go wild:

• This competition is open to all secondary schools in Suffolk.
• Your teacher can send us your proposal in either written for video format via WeTransfer (to jess.miller@suffolk.gov.uk). It must describe exactly what you want to achieve on your school grounds and explain your vision.
• You must include a map of your school from above which shows us which habitats already exist on your school site. This can be a simple google maps screenshot with rough outlines and annotations.
• So that we can award as many winners as possible please only ask for the funding you need. Set this out as a simple list of resources you need to make your project happen with each resource’s cost next to it. Total this up at the bottom of the list. Our fantastic sponsor for the competition, Milestone Infrastructure, are offering a free ecological consultation and their own staff’s volunteering time to help with practical tasks so you can budget these as free.
• You must include a letter from your school’s senior leadership team promising their commitment to deliver the project with the award money.
• Your proposal (written or video format), letter from SLT, budget outline and habitat map must be submitted by 5pm on 5 June 2025.

Your prize – the exciting part!

• There will be multiple winners of the competition. Two representatives and one teacher from each winning school will be presented with a certificate by Steve Backshall at a private meet and greet at the Suffolk Youth Climate Conference 2025. You will be given a time and location for this. It is your school’s responsibility to attend this.
• We would love to capture video footage of your biodiversity project and share it on our many communications channels. This would be available for you to share in whatever capacity you wish.
• Your prize money may be spent on your school staff’s time and resource.
• You will receive the total budget you have presented in your proposal. No additional funds will be given.

From this competition, we are hoping to develop a rolling school biodiversity fund. Therefore, if you are unsuccessful in this competition, please hang on to your proposals as you may have another opportunity.