UK school children raise money for overseas LEGO competition

A group of Year Six pupils from Cornwall are raising money to represent the UK in a LEGO competition in the United States.

The FIRST LEGO League Challenge is an international competition for primary and middle school students. Every August, children are presented with a scientific, real-world challenge to solve to the best of their ability and using LEGO robots from the MINDSTORM range.

This year, the Penpol Pumpkins from Penpol School in Cornwall won second place at the Great British Finals in Harrogate, as well as one of the top prizes for their Innovation Project. This earned them a place representing the country in the international competition, held in Massachusetts between June 9 and June 11.

Ada, Jenna, Caio, Miles, James S, James B, Felix, Ernie, Ethan, and Piran, along with two of their teachers, are keen to head overseas and continue their FIRST LEGO League streak, but estimate it will cost around £25,000 to do so. As such, they are raising money in order to be able to go.

“[Competing in an international competition] is a dream come true and is something we could never have believed was a possibility when we first started building our LEGO robot two years ago,” wrote the team on their GoFundMe page. “It’s surreal, but a truly once-in-a-lifetime experience for the ten of us.”

So far, they’ve raised £7,815 of their initial £10,000 goal. If you’d like to contribute and help the group of 10 and 11-year-olds to travel to the US and compete at an international level, you can do so here.

Featured image: Penpol Pumpkins

Support the work that Brick Fanatics does by buying your LEGO sets using our affiliate links. Thank you!