New £5,000 grant to help schools across the Portsmouth area with their STEM plans

Youngsters at a STEM fair at Lee-on-the-Solent. Photo: Habibur Rahman

Junior schools across Portsmouth, Fareham, Havant and Gosport are being offered the chance to apply for a grant of up to £5,000.

The cash is being offered by the Solent Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) as part of its Pathways to Discovery initiative.

The scheme is aimed at getting more children, aged seven to 11, involved in STEM activities – opening up future careers in the industry.

Rachael Randall, Solent LEP business director and lead for skills, is now looking for schools to apply.

She said: ‘Through the Pathways to Discovery fund we are supporting and promoting STEM education, links to industry, and careers horizons, and setting young people in the Solent region on journeys of discovery to be the innovators and designers of the future.

‘The fund could support new partnerships with industry or link the curriculum to STEM careers in inventive ways.’

Schools can apply for funding for projects starting between March 1 and June 30, 2019. They will need to demonstrate how the fund will support the development of STEM activities in the school and strengthen links to industry.

The deadline is Thursday, February 7. For details, call 023 9268 8924 or email [email protected].