Sustainable engineering charity, Greenpower Education Trust, is inviting schools from London to bid for a chance to compete on one of the biggest motorsport stages of 2015 – the London round of the FIA Formula E championship.
The inaugural season of the pioneering Formula E championship, the first of its kind for all-electric racing cars, will reach its climax with a finale in London on June 27.
West Sussex-based charity Greenpower is the Official Schools Series Provider to Formula E and is running the Formula E School Series alongside the main championship in almost every host city featured on the calendar in 2015.
The School Series initiative sees 10 schools from each of the host cities build their own electric car and compete on the same track as the stars of Formula E during the main race weekend. Greenpower will open registration for London schools to participate in the UK round at a launch event at The Crystal in Royal Victoria Dock next Wednesday, February 25.
Greenpower Education Trust CEO, Jeremy Way, said: “This is a unique chance for young people in London to race on the same track as a host of ex-F1 and other motorsport stars, not to mention the opportunity to get involved in an innovative engineering project that will look great on their CVs.
“The School Series race will be held on Saturday, June 27 as part of the Formula E finale so students will compete in front of what is predicted to be an enormous crowd of thousands. Meanwhile, we will support each team of pupils every step of the way in the build of their very own electric race car.”
Greenpower is in its 16th year of running race championships for primary and secondary schools, colleges and universities in the UK. It currently works with around 500 institutions and more than 1,000 students in a programme designed to get young people interested in engineering, particularly sustainable engineering, at an early age.
The UK needs an average of 74,000 new workers with engineering skills to enter the industry between now and 2022 if it is to maximise its true potential. In total, 257,000 of those jobs are new vacancies that will grow the industry, as opposed to simply maintaining its current size.
Through the Greenpower programme, young people from the age of nine get hands-on engineering experience but also learn communication, team-building and co-operation skills, while the process also gives underprivileged or struggling youngsters a renewed focus and goals for which to aim.
The launch of Greenpower’s search for London schools to take part on the Formula E School Series will be held at The Crystal, Royal Victoria Dock, starting at 5pm on Wednesday, February 25.
Any schools interested in either attending or bidding for one of the 10 slots available for the programme should email schoolseries@greenpower.co.uk
Greenpower Education Trust
