Renishaw hosts inaugural South Wales Greenpower event

Renishaw, a global manufacturing company, recently held the first South Wales Greenpower event at its Miskin premises.

The event saw primary schools gather together to compete and engage in engineering in a fun and innovative way by creating and racing a fully functional electric car.

Twelve brand new teams were created and consisted of children between the ages of 9 to 11. This year’s champions were GG Tonyrefail with the team Mellten Ton.

The company has been working with registered charity Greenpower as a sponsor for ten years, supporting a plethora of events for primary and secondary schools at Castle Combe.

However, it’s since started hosting Greenpower races at its New Hills headquarters. Renishaw says it’s had excellent results so far and believes the events are beneficial

Julie Collins, education liaison manager of Renishaw, said: “We have firsthand evidence that Greenpower is a fun and meaningful experience that gets young people interested in engineering

“In fact, a number of our apprentices participated in a Greenpower event when they were at school. Hosting the event in South Wales extended the reach of the positive work Greenpower does.

“By next year, we hope to double the number of entrants in Wales and encourage even more participants and local companies to get involved.”

Greenpower was launched in 1999 to inspire youngsters to engage with STEM subjects and to consider careers in areas such as engineering. It uses motorsports as a hook.

Jeremy Way, CEO of Greenpower, said: “Without Renishaw’s support and the commitment of its dedicated volunteers on the day, the event in South Wales would not have been possible.

“Our relationship with Renishaw has been growing stronger over the years – it’s encouraging to see a global engineering company that really believes in our mission to inspire and excite young people into STEM careers.”