Play Your Part: Students in the Community Innovation Challenge 2023

Published on 16 March 2023

Interdisciplinary teams of students from across the University (including our own HLC students!) have been competing to develop innovative ideas to tackle the cost-of-living crisis across Liverpool City Region (LCR), in ‘Play Your Part: Students in the Community,’ a competition facilitated by Careers and Employability in partnership with the Civic Data Cooperative (CDC) and Everton in the Community (EitC).  

Three teams reached the final, which took place in the Spine building on Wednesday 8^th March. The finalists made live pitches to the CDC and EitC tackling a range of issues: ‘Blue Base’s Green Spaces’ presented a community allotment project, ‘Baby Box’ pitched free support for new parents, and ‘Connecting Liverpool’ proposed a website connecting volunteers and organisations in LCR.

Connecting Liverpool took home the top prize of £750 of innovation vouchers, with Blue Base’s Green Spaces taking second prize (£500) and Baby Box taking third (£250). All finalists will enjoy an exclusive trip to EitC and Goodison Park, and coaching to submit applications to the @LivUni Enterprise Fund.

Congratulations to all the students, who produced fantastic pitches in only three weeks!

Team Connecting Liverpool (1^st place)

Eloise Burton-Carter, International Politics and Policy

Daniel Skinner, Politics

Lauren Hodgetts, Criminology

Tola Taiwo, Criminology

Eleanor Marchant, Criminology with Social Policy

Team Blue Base's Green Spaces (2^nd place)

Niamh Chambers, Philosophy and History

Nicola Clarke, Sociology and Philosophy

Lucy Heald, Criminology

Adam Horton, English and Philosophy

Alali Sekibo, Sociology with Social Policy

Team Baby Box (3^rd place)

Phoebe Gilding, International Politics and Policy

Katie Russell, International Politics and Policy with Business Studies

Omar Hussein, Sociology

Daniel Pledger, Criminology with Sociology

Alycia Arragon, Criminology