Investing in the Region’s Future – Spring 2026
17th April 2026
The Reece Foundation is continuing to invest in the North East’s future, with a new round of grants approved in February 2026.
This round supports hands-on learning and community projects, spanning bursaries and scholarships, rail, aviation and aerospace, time, agriculture, wildlife, environmental monitoring and sustainable engineering. Together, the grants are designed to build skills, encourage innovation and deliver lasting impact across schools, universities, charities and local communities – supporting the long-term prosperity of the North East.
Anne Reece, Chair of the Reece Foundation, said:
“These grants highlight the incredible talent, creativity and dedication found across the North East – from education settings to rural and urban communities. By supporting projects focused on learning, innovation and sustainability, we’re enabling organisations to meet vital needs now while building a stronger, more resilient future. We look forward to seeing how these initiatives develop and the lasting impact they will have in the years to come.”
Berwick Academy – Engineering STEM Club – launching and running an engineering club, enabling students to compete in the Greenpower F24 race series.
The Country Trust – Farm Discovery Visits – continuing funding to deliver a further eight immersive farm visits for primary-age children from high-deprivation areas in the North East. These “outdoor laboratory” visits will showcase the engineering, manufacturing and technological innovation essential to sustainable agriculture. The funding includes a transport subsidy to remove a barrier to outdoor STEM education.
Lit & Phil and Little Inventors – 3-Year Engagement Programme – building on the 2025 pilot, this expanded programme will inspire a new generation of North East inventors over three years. It will bring the library’s extraordinary collections to life, engaging primary-age children to imagine, design and prototype engineering solutions to real-world problems.
Mammal Web – Wild Watchers – expanding Mammal Web’s work with secondary schools across the North East. Funding will support a dedicated Engagement Project Manager to lead a two-year programme with four schools, involving pupils in a citizen science project and helping them build scientific skills, environmental understanding and data literacy through real-world wildlife monitoring.
OASES (Outdoor and Sustainability Education Specialists) – Green Power Pioneers – introducing eight school groups in County Durham to five sustainable technologies, with hands-on learning about how we harness energy from the sun, wind, geothermal sources (mine-water heating) and hydrogen. Funding will build on established workshops, provide equipment to schools and support a visit to Durham University.
Primary Engineer – ‘If you were an engineer, what would you do?’– continued funding for the Leaders Award primary school competition, helping young people in the North East think creatively about problem-solving and how engineering shapes the world around them.
Primary Engineer – ‘Engineers in the Making’ – supporting teachers across the North East to embed an engineering-themed curriculum in primary schools. The programme explores aviation and aerospace engineering through designing and building kites, and the concept of time – gears, ratios, revolutions and fractions – through assembling a Time Machine.
Royal Grammar School – STEM partnerships and bursaries – continuing funding for means-tested Reece Foundation bursaries for exceptional prospective engineers. The grant also supports STEM teachers employed at Royal Grammar School who work with local state schools, strengthening A-level maths support and improving teaching quality.
Sheffield University – Railway Challenge – supporting a student-led engineering project as the University’s entry to the IMechE Railway Challenge Competition. The competition brings together teams from universities and industry worldwide to design and manufacture 10.25-inch-gauge locomotives.
Smallpeice Trust – Arkwright Engineering Scholarships – continuing funding for Arkwright scholarships for students in the North East, recognising and celebrating the engineering talent within our schools.
Smile for Life – Café Beam @ Ouseburn Farm – helping the café become self-sustaining while providing work experience and development opportunities for local young people who have disabilities, learning difficulties or are disadvantaged. The café also provides healthy, locally produced food to Ouseburn and neighbouring communities, particularly in areas of high deprivation.
The Special Lioness – The Memory Making Ball – sponsoring the annual Memory Making Ball, organised by a charity supporting families raising disabled and life-limited children across our community.
Tyne Rivers Trust – Fixed Point Photography Changing World: A citizen science initiative – supporting the installation of fixed-point photography posts across river valleys, wetlands and key landscape sites within the Tyne catchment, including Ouse Burn. These will capture repeat images and create accessible visual timelines of landscapes, rivers and wetlands, helping to inform future land and water management decisions.
Villiers Park – Tyneside Future Leaders Programme – continuing funding for the Future Leaders Programme, supporting students and teachers to join Villiers Park’s Year 10 residential at the University of Bath. This experience brings Tyneside Future Leaders together with young people from across the country at a leading STEM specialist university.
The Armstrong Project CIO – Strategic Case and Outline Design for the transformation of the Banqueting Hall complex at Jesmond Dene – support from the Reece Foundation Ouse Burn Way Fund to test the feasibility, value and long-term sustainability of redeveloping the Banqueting Hall complex as a multi-use cultural and community hub.
Apply for Funding
Our next trustees meeting will be in June 2026. We’re always keen to hear from organisations working to create opportunities, inspire STEM learning and protect the environment.
To apply for funding, click here and submit your application by Friday, 12 June 2026.
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