63 young people with ideas to change the world are being supported by Innovate UK and the Prince’s Trust through the Young Innovators Award.
The winners, all aged between 18 and 30, will all benefit from a £5,000 grant, one-on-one business coaching, and an allowance to cover living costs.
Ella Hopkin (pictured below), 25, from Sheffield was inspired to create social enterprise Motion after volunteering at Age UK. Motion provides interactive online exercise programmes both to get older people moving and to tackle isolation.
Now in its third year, the Young Innovators programme continues to support high-potential young people from diverse backgrounds. This year, half of the winners are women, around a third are Black, Asian, or from another ethnic minority group, and 17% have identified as disabled. There are also multiple award winners in every region of the UK.
From turning fish skin into bags and wallets to enabling non-specialists to build safe, disaster-resistant housing, all of this year’s Young Innovators have ideas that promise to address current challenges.
Commenting on her social enterprise and award, Ella Hopkin, said, “Whilst volunteering at Age UK I was inspired to find a solution to older adults being socially isolated and far too sedentary, which took the form of Motion Exercise, which designs and delivers inclusive and interactive exercise programmes to care homes. It really got the residents moving, feeling happier and chatting. The pandemic hit and I began delivering the classes online which I now hope to go nationwide.”
Details on all 63 Young Innovators can be found here.
