Uppingham partners with LOROS in national first project

In a national first, 82 pupils from 11 schools across Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland were brought together for a Dragon’s Den-style event, where they presented innovative solutions to a panel of expert judges – known as The LIFE Project.

LIFE stands for Learn, Innovate, Fund, Empathise. With these core values at the heart of the project, pupils were presented with four challenges related to palliative and end of life care, with each group having the opportunity to use their creativity, experiences and innovative thinking to present inspiring solutions to these challenges that could genuinely change lives.

The aspiration for the project was that it would be of benefit to a wide range of pupils across Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland, who would be presented with a rigorously academic and cross-curricular challenge that would develop their creativity, teamwork, communication and presentation skills, while also giving them an opportunity to network with experts at the top of their professions and introducing them to the broad range of careers involved in palliative and end of life care.

After working remotely with each other via Microsoft Teams, the teams were brought together for the final, held at Uppingham School on Friday 4^th March 2022.

Background:

Mr Nakul Patel, Consultant Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeon at the Leicester Royal Infirmary and Board Member of LOROS Hospice, is an innovative thinker who, in his own practice, has pioneered a number of surgical solutions, books and apps, demonstrating that thinking outside the box can truly change lives for the better.

Mr Patel has been involved in organising a number of innovation groups – or ‘Hackathons’ - with other surgeons to facilitate the sharing of ideas and the development of new ones. Mr Patel had an established relationship with Mr Jim Reddy, Teacher of History and Head of Global University Applications at Uppingham School, and after discussing the success of previous innovation-focused conferences within the medical sector, Mr Reddy created a plan for a medical conference for pupils with Mr Patel listed as one of the experts.

Although the progress of the initial conference was delayed due to the pandemic, the two continued to discuss the event. Due to his role within LOROS, Mr Patel considered how the event could help to transform palliative and end of life care, and how involving young people could generate new innovations in this sector. A collaborative partnership between LOROS and Uppingham School was formed to deliver the event, involving pupils from schools across Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland for the inaugural LIFE Project event.

Speaking ahead of the event, Mr Patel said: “Young minds tend to think big and focus on solutions rather than problems and we are delighted to have been able to pilot this project within Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland.”

Mr Reddy said: “We are delighted to deliver this project in partnership with LOROS Hospice. This is an excellent opportunity for some of the brightest young thinkers to develop innovative solutions to real world problems, while also having the opportunity to develop their presentation, teamwork, communication and creative skills with their peers. Through the project, we could see real advances in palliative care and I very much look forward to seeing the ideas put forth by these young people.”

Outcome:

82 pupils from the following schools were involved in the inaugural LIFE Project, and were divided across 15 teams:

Beauchamp City Sixth Form College, Beauchamp College (Oadby), Charnwood College, Harington School, Leicester Grammar School, Leicester High School for Girls, Loughborough Amherst School, Loughborough Grammar School, Oakham School, Rawlins Academy and Uppingham School.

The teams were virtually introduced to each other three weeks ahead of the event via Microsoft Teams. They were tasked with selecting one of the four challenges presented and developing a solution together, which would then be presented to the panel of expert judges and their peers in the final on Friday 4^th March 2022.

The four challenge areas were:

1. How can technology help address inequalities in palliative care for different ethnic groups?
2. How can those abroad be involved in their loved one’s death?
3. How can we recruit/utilise volunteers to support end of life and palliative care patients and their families?
4. What steps can we take to make donating easier in an increasingly cashless society?

To enable them to develop their ideas, the teams were also able to access advice from experts specialising in a number of fields, including medicine, charities and fundraising, business and entrepreneurship and education.

As a result of their collaborative efforts, the teams presented a series of innovative solutions. In doing so, they showed incredible maturity, intelligence and compassion, offering ideas that could be realistically implemented to positively impact palliative and end of life patients and their families, as well as hospices and charities such as LOROS.

Impact

Ahead of the final, LOROS Chief Executive John Knight said: “We are really excited to see the solutions that the groups come up with and, having heard some of the ideas at the welcome events, we have been extremely impressed at the creativity and level of ingenuity. These solutions could make a real difference to families across LLR and could be rolled out nationally and even globally.”

Describing the nature of the project and the pupils involved, Headmaster at Uppingham School, Dr Richard Maloney said: “The enthusiasm and innovation these young people have shown in forging new ideas throughout this project is truly inspiring. The compassionate care delivered by charities such as LOROS matters deeply to many people, and through imagination and determination, the pupils involved are working together to consider how to advance this life-changing work.”

The winners of the project will be provided with ongoing support to bring their solution to life and to develop it for market with guidance from leaders in the field, including Mr Nakul Patel, who said: “Advances in technology, new devices or innovative service designs can have a huge impact on care and, more broadly, can redefine organisations that are willing to embrace change.”

Aside from presenting some wonderful ideas, the pupils involved also found this to be a valuable project for their personal development. In discussing her participation, one pupil said: “I chose to be involved in the project as being from Leicester myself, I have seen the true difference that LOROS can make to a family going through one of the worst times of their life. I wanted to give back to them in any way I could and so put myself forward to be a part of this project.

“This project has allowed me to develop my communication and creative thinking skills exponentially. This has been a challenging, yet exciting project that has pushed me academically and creatively, and I can't wait to see some of our solutions be implemented.”