Reaching for Gold

St George's House was the proud venue for the final of the 'Reaching for Gold' Competition.  Reaching for Gold is a South East competition designed to encourage innovative ideas from groups of young people that can make a practical difference to society in the areas of Youth, Community and Disability. It is designed for teams of up to ten 14-19 year olds, and is particularly targeted at those living or working with disadvantage or disability.

Mobile cycle power, water pump generators and interactive board games are just some of the innovative ideas of the finalists from South East schools and youth groups in the exciting new competition, supported by the South East England Development Agency and key partners.

The nine competition finalists received intensive mentoring by an experienced corporate partner, helping them to prepare for a 'Dragon's Den' style final which was held at St George's House,  Windsor Castle on 15 December.

The winning group received the Reaching for Gold trophy and £5,000 to help them develop their project.

The nine finalists were each congratulated at the end of their presentations by special guest ASIMO and later performed a full showcase of its  abilities to all groups and guests.

Reaching for Gold has been developed by SEEDA and members of the Corporate Cabinet, supported by Groundwork, The Prince's Trust and AbilityNet. The idea for Reaching for Gold comes from the regional programme 'Create, Compete, Collaborate' which has the aim that "Every young person born after 1983 will have the chance to Create, Compete or Collaborate with another young person in another country" between now and 2012.