The winners of the final stage of the 2021 Rees Jeffreys Road Fund Competition, run by the The Trustees in order to celebrate 150 years since the birth of the charity’s benefactor, William Rees Jeffreys, will be revealed on 28 March.
Back in December, seven finalists were awarded £5,000 development grants and given three months to develop their ideas in competition for the final grant of up to £150,000.
The final winner – or winners – of the £150,000 fund will be celebrated at an invitation-only Gala Reception on 28 March 2022, at Prince Philip House, home of the Royal Academy of Engineering, Carlton House Terrace, St James’s, London.
The competition – which was run last year for the first time – attracted 142 entries, which especially pleased the Trustees.
Rees Jeffreys Road Fund Trustee and Chair of the Judging panel Ginny Clarke said, “This year was the first time we’ve run a competition of this kind. The idea was to celebrate 150 years since the birth of our benefactor William Rees Jeffreys, and for the Rees Jeffreys Road Fund Trustees to reach out and connect with the innovation, thought leadership and creativity that is helping to answer our key competition question:
What’s your vision of the way in which our roads (motorways, highways, or streets and footways) could best work for us all as we square up to the challenges of the next 50 years??
“It was especially refreshing to hear from some new voices to the sector. The discussions we had during the judging sessions were of real benefit to us in widening our appeal to new thinkers, and in showing us the breadth and depth of innovative thinking from those concerned with our future roads and streets.
“As Trustees”, added Ms Clarke, “we will be reaching out to many new individuals and organisations in future, several of who came to our notice through this Competition.
“We are trying to build on the steps that we’ve achieved with widening our communications and awareness in the transport and planning sectors,’ she says. ‘We want lots of applicants, because our role is to give out funds. But we also want new applicants that are well suited to the objectives of the fund.”
(Graphic – Rees Jeffreys Road Fund)
