Big Bang 2022 National Winners At The Nec.
Kingswood School would like to extend a huge congratulations to Alberta, Phoebe, Florence, Sophie and Manaka after receiving The Stantec Developing Future Communities Award at the Big Bang 2022 National Finals at the NEC. Stantec, a community-led engineering sponsor, awards £500 to a project that has demonstrated how science and engineering can advance the quality of life in communities, whether around the corner or across the globe.
Our Kingswood students were awarded 1st prize for their project 'Girls into School: Leak-free for you and me - reusable sanitary pads'. Their idea is to create reusable sanitary products for those living in poor conditions and without access to period care. The team made contact with a teacher in Kibera, she provided insight into what life is like for women and girls living in Kibera with a period. The students were struck as an all-female team that 'an estimated 90% [of women and girls] are not able to access disposable sanitary pads' and 'men perceive periods as a curse upon women'. Motivated to create change, the Kingswood students began their investigation and research. Their project aims to close the gap of inequality between men and women, improve sanitary care and help girls move out of poverty and into higher education.
In the future, the team would like to send sewing machines and materials so the women in Kibera can make their own pads. This will hopefully empower the women to utilise the project model and harness their skills to make and sell their own sanitary products. Recently, Radio Bath invited the Kingswood team into the studio to discuss their project further and raise awareness. Our Kingswood students are looking for £2000 of sponsorship funding to lift the project off the ground.
The process of working on our project was interesting, I enjoyed having to work through it methodically. I think it was really interesting to talk to other people about the project at the competition and seeing how many people empathised with the idea and you could tell they wanted us to continue the project
- Florence
When the team became aware of how much Kenyan girls living in slums were being held back educationally, they were shocked and worked very hard to remove a major hurdle to the girls' ability to escape the slums.
- Mr Snell
We are so proud of the creativity, innovation and ingenuity showed by Alberta, Phoebe, Florence, Sophie and Manaka. 'Girls into school: Leak-free for you and me - reusable pads' is an inspirational project that has the potential to change lives. Congratulations, this is a fantastic achievement.
