We’re thrilled to announce the 10 inspiring winners of our 2023 Dream Big competition!
If you’ve been following our Dream Big story, you’ll know we’ve received over 15,000 entries from kids aged 6-18 across three categories: Community, Talent and Kidpreneur.
Our shortlist of 25 finalists went to our panel of judges – Caspar Lee, Jenk Oz, Alex Greenwood & Lauren James and Vee Kativhu – and a public vote. And now we have 10 well-deserved winners.
Meet the Community category winners
Lead Judge’s choice: Elle, 15, Hug-In-A-Box
Elle’s dream is to create "A hug in a box" – small packs with self-care items, positive messages, and a few treats. The boxes will include a candle to show people there are always brighter days and a special message unique to each box. Elle’s idea stems from having helped someone struggling with depression; the smile on their face when they received a box from her was huge and made Elle realise that this idea could make others happy, too.
Judges' choice: Django, 16, Podcast inspiring youth activists
Django’s dream is to start a podcast to build a community of youth activists with links to his existing blog, Youthful Insights. His £1000 winnings will go towards equipment, supporting and maintaining his blog and providing incentives for guests. In the long term, he hopes the podcast will be funded through donations from listeners and people who read his blog posts.
Public choice: Lydia, 7, Minecraft Learning Club
Lydia’s dream is to set up a Minecraft learning club at a local computer museum to show kids how Minecraft helps with planning, design, mathematical reasoning, language, problem-solving, creativity, and system thinking. There would be face-to-face sessions, and the money would be used for equipment, marketing, and a space to hold the sessions. The bigger goal is to work towards Minecraft and coding social groups.
Public choice: Demi, 17, Care Home Education Project
Partnering with NextGenLeaders, Demi has developed a group project bringing activities to a local care home to give residents back some autonomy. She is also collecting the stories from the residents to share with pupils at local schools.
Her winnings will allow the project to expand to other schools and purchase activities for residents, such as gardening equipment to help create a space for them in the garden.
Meet the Talent category winners
Judges' choice: Hannah, 15, Baker and Chef
Hannah has Down Syndrome and is doing her GCSEs, but she also has big dreams, as she loves hospitality and catering. Winning Dream Big will allow her to enrol on a cooking/bakery course, purchase equipment, and help take her dream to the next level.
Public choice: Matthew, 10, Footballer
Matthew, who has cerebral palsy, has developed a real passion for football and travels twice a month to train and play for the Northern Ireland Junior Cerebral Palsy team. This is a 160-mile round trip, but Matthew believes he can be the best footballer with cerebral palsy in the world. The £ 1,000 will help cover his travel costs, football boots and expenses over the coming years as he develops and continues to play.
“I am so happy to be a GoHenry winner. I feel awesome and can’t wait to keep playing football like my heroes.”
Matthew, 10
Public choice: Sawyer, 9, Racing driver
Sawyer lives and breathes all things racing and has won plenty of trophies, including driver of the season. This year has been challenging because he needs his own kart to participate in official championship-karting leagues. Sawyer has been raising money via a GoFundMe page, selling old toys, doing odd jobs, and saving all his birthday and Christmas money. Winning this competition will help make his dream of owning his own kart come true.
Meet the Kidpreneur category winners
Judges’ choice: Oliver, 10, Gardening Services
Oliver and his friend set up a gardening service over the summer and have turned over £250 by mowing lawns, weeding, washing cars and cutting hedges. Oliver now wants to set up a website where people in the village can book his services and has plans to print t-shirts and invest in more tools to expand his services. His dream would be to get a push-along paddock cleaner to offer a service to people with horses in his rural area.
Public choice: Oskar 7, Chiari Teddies
Oskar has an incurable brain disease called Chiari Malformation type 1 and has had four surgeries since 2017. He’s very aware of his condition and wants to start selling teddies with a Chiari Malformation 'zipper head' scar to give to children in hospitals who had to go through the scary process themselves. £1000 is enough to start up a little store on Etsy &/or eBay for parents to buy the bears and other Chiari products to raise awareness about the condition.
Public choice: Elliot, 8 YouTube Maths Channel
Elliot would like to set up a tutoring channel on YouTube called Kid Vs Maths. Here, Elliot would make videos where he solves his homework. Over the next 2 - 3 years, Elliott wants to have documented the ultimate 11+ Guide and Exam Preparation for kids, something that’s missing from YouTube. Elliott would use the £1000 to purchase microphones, two cameras with tripods and other editing equipment.
Keep dreaming big!
We want to congratulate each of our worthy winners, and we can’t wait to hear more as they take a step closer to making their dreams come true.
If their stories have inspired you, look out for Dream Big 2024 and your chance to tell us how you’d invest in your dreams and drive change.
Dream Big was open to all residents in the United Kingdom aged 6 to 18. Under 13s needed a parent or guardian to enter on their behalf. Click here for the full T&Cs.
