QMU student wins Love your Idea competition and banks £500
QMU student Alicia Clark (25) is the winner of the LoveYourIdea competition run by Sporting Chance Initiative.
Alicia wins the top cash prize of £500, for her innovative idea for a new swimming product which will simultaneously help young children learn to swim whilst also reducing equipment costs for providers.
Alicia is a first-year BSc (Hons) Physical Activity, Health and Wellbeing student at QMU, but also works part-time as a swimming teacher and is a mother of three children, aged 6, 3, and 1.
LoveYourIdea is a national competition for students and recent graduates in Scotland to submit an innovative idea for a new sports product, service or technology. Operated by Stirling-based Sporting Chance Initiative and Stirling University Innovation Park, LoveYourIdea was launched in October 2015 and received over 300 entries from students across the country.
With five cash prizes, the competition encouraged students from all backgrounds to think differently about sport and come up with exciting, innovative ideas.
LoveYourIdea was the brainchild of Ryan Carenduff, Programme Manager of the Stirling-based Sports Innovation Challenge:
“I was inspired to create LoveYourIdea as a way to tap into the large number of students who have innovative ideas, but may not have considered starting their own sports business.
The competition had fantastic interest and buy-in for our pilot year of LoveYourIdea with over 300 submissions from all over Scottish universities and institutions which demonstrates the thriving community of entrepreneurial students.
I am delighted to be able to announce Alicia as our LoveYourIdea winner; she has a fantastic user-led idea which could solve a real problem in the sports industry. I am also delighted that taking part has inspired Alicia to continue developing her idea with our Sports Innovation Challenge programme which has a £12,000 prize fund and wish her all the best going forward with it.”
Kim Gilchrist, Head of Research & Knowledge Exchange Development at Queen Margaret University said: ”Alicia is exceptional in terms of her entrepreneurial outlook and vision. She is a credit to Queen Margaret University and an inspiration to other female entrepreneurs. She is a truly worthy winner of the LoveYourIdea top prize.”
Notes to Editor
For further media information contact Jonathan Perkins, Press and PR Officer, E: jperkins@qmu.ac.uk T: 0131 474 0000.
