Employees at National Grid’s Warwick office dug deep into their pockets this week, raising £500 through cake sales and a raffle to fund a Birmingham primary school engineering project.
Earlier this year Adrian Lewis, Tony Taylor and John Wilson – all engineers at National Grid – got involved in the challenge to raise money and supervise the construction of a 24-volt electric car, in conjunction with twenty pupils from St Bernadette’s primary school in Yardley in Birmingham.
Once constructed, the car was raced at Rockingham race course against other schools in the West Midlands that had taken part in the challenge. St Bernadette’s won three trophies for their driving skills.
The money raised by employees at National Grid this week will be used to buy a new kit and offer a second group of children in Birmingham the chance to take part in the competition. The company will double the amount raised by staff through its “matched giving” scheme.
Several of the pupils who took part in the original project brought the car to National Grid’s office in Warwick, where they met staff and talked about the challenge and their achievements.
Commenting on the project, Adrian Lewis said: “When you think about what this group of pupils delivered – building a racing car from a box of parts – it’s amazing.
“I believe every child has potential, there just needs to be a catalyst to release it. The engineers at National Grid had great fun getting involved.”
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Photos available on request.
For further media information only, please contact Doranna Widdicks, National Grid Media Relations, on 01926 655373.