2023 Showcase - The BIG Announcement!
Drum roll please! Student entries have been shortlisted by industry volunteers and our students have pitched their app ideas to six panels of industry judges. Now it’s time to reveal their favourites and find out who you voted for in the People’s Choice Award.
Judge’s Favourites
Congratulations to the following teams, voted Judge’s Favourites for the 2023 Showcase!
Future Founders, the social entrepreneurs of the future, supported by TPX Impact, is awarded to Swipe n Swap from Dunoon Grammar School
Community Champions, ideas that connect communities and make local places better, supported by Kingston Technology, is awarded to Pick and Click from Lark Rise Academy
Climate Changers, innovative technologies tackling the climate emergency, supported by OVO Foundation, is awarded to Lightning Bikers from Challney High School
Inclusive Creators, designing technology for a more inclusive society, supported by EPAM, is awarded to Never Forget from West Bromwich Collegiate Academy
Systems Thinkers, ideas to create large scale sustainable change, supported by Sage, is awarded to Pure Cycle from Daubeney Academy
Sustainable Innovators, sustainable tech creations, supported by BNY Mellon, is awarded to Paw Print from Dunoon Grammar School
People’s Choice Award
The public has spoken and we are delighted to announce the 2023 People’s Choice Award goes to Sanitary! Congratulations to Rokhaya, Haajar, and Seher, all aged 13 from Shireland Collegiate Academy. The team’s app aims to tackle period poverty, such an important issue to address and a fantastic innovative app to do so!
Donna Hay Award for Impact
Each year we celebrate the life of our Senior Learning Manager, Donna Hay. This award recognises educators and industry expert volunteers who go above and beyond to support Apps for Good students with their learning journey.
The 2023 Donna Hay Award for Impact, Educator of the Year goes to Steve Hall, Senior Leader from Life Academy Trust in Leicestershire. Steve has been instrumental in delivering Innovate for Climate Change to more than 400 Year 7 pupils across three of the Academies Secondary Schools this year.
Steve said, “Our students learned so much more than just the technical knowledge required to build a prototype app - they learned how to collaborate more effectively during the design process and how to communicate their ideas to a wider audience. Lots of students wouldn’t necessarily consider themselves to be good at coding yet they were able to use their imagination and creativity throughout the design process”.
Steve has delivered Innovate for Climate Change for the last two years and has seen the impact it has had, not only during the course but also afterwards. He told us how the ideation lessons allow students to get creative while forcing them to negotiate with each other and at times compromise on their ideas. He said, “the fact that the students are being immersed in such a significant real world problem really helps them to build empathy towards each other.”
The award also celebrates the role of our Expert Volunteers in making a positive impact on our students. The 2023 Donna Hay Award for Impact, Expert Volunteer of the Year goes to Vibha Ghei from BNY Mellon. Vibha kindly gave her time to review and rate apps that Apps for Good students have created, giving each and every one constructive feedback. Vibha was impressed by the innovative ideas that students came up with, from tackling pollution to women’s hygiene, safety for children and cutting down on plastic use. Vibha said: “This is one of the most rewarding volunteering opportunities one can ever come across as it’s full of ideas from the next generation who are much more imaginative, creative, and raring to go.”
Congratulations and thank you Steve and Vibha for your fantastic contribution to Apps for Good students this year.
This year we've seen students take on a vast spectrum of social challenges, reflective of global issues and what's happening locally, within their own community. Freddie Norton, Acting CEO, Apps for Good said:
“Year on year, students entering our annual Showcase demonstrate their potential to become the social tech innovators of tomorrow. These young people are creating app ideas to tackle social challenges that really matter to them, including more climate friendly diets, more inclusive communities, mental health and the cost of living crisis. They have seriously impressed both our team and our Industry Experts Volunteers!
On behalf of the whole Apps for Good community I’d like to congratulate them all on their achievement and encourage them to continue their journey of tech innovation.” Freddie Norton, Acting CEO, Apps for Good.
Huge thanks
Thank you to everyone involved in the 2023 Showcase - the students who entered, the teachers and parents who supported them, and our fantastic 278 Industry Expert Volunteers from our corporate partners and those who voted in our People's Choice Award - all 7,165 votes! Thank you, from all of us.
The Showcase is integral to the Apps for Good approach. Our aim is to celebrate student creativity and tech innovation, inspiring and encouraging them to pursue careers in tech, taking action on the things they care about most and developing awesome life-skills along the way. This year, 159 student teams have taken part in the Showcase and we hope to reach more young people in the next academic year, with our firm favourite Innovate for Climate Change and our new course, App for Social Action, which will be available from September 2023.
If you’d like to teach an Apps for Good course, want to volunteer your expertise to our students or want to discuss sponsorship opportunities, then we’d love to hear from you! To find out more about the impact of our work, sign up to our termly newsletter, here.