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Celebrating 150 years since the birth of William Rees Jeffreys
We’re looking for 150 new ideas: how can we ensure our roads and streets deliver a better outcome for all of us?
We have grants of up to £150,000 available to fund the best suggestions, and great cash prizes for schools
Who should enter?
The Big Question...
What’s your vision of the way in which our roads (motorways, highways or streets) could best work for us all as we square up to the challenges of the next 50 years?​
For William Rees Jeffreys roads were important because they were key to enabling a better quality of life, by making them safer to use and so enabling people to enjoy mobility by foot, cycle or motor vehicle that would enhance their life experience.
They still are.
When you think about the role we need roads to play in 50 years' time, what do you see? Maybe they play less of a role than they do today. Maybe, as now, different sorts of roads serve very different functions. As we decarbonise and improve air quality, but still treasure mobility, how might that look? How might new technologies help?
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We suggest that entrants consider one, more or all of these key issues:
Making road trips more enjoyable
Healthier and safer travel
Changing travel trends
Encouraging good behaviour from road users
Achieving public buy-in so that change can happen
People-friendly ways to make use of space in the street
We’re not just looking for the best ideas...
...we’re hoping to be impressed by the way you choose to present them
It’s easy and free to enter.
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Send us your idea and you could win £5,000 for your creative vision.
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Or, if yours is an idea you’d be able to develop with a grant of £5,000, we are offering five £5,000 development grants to enable you to pitch for our £150,000 grant pool (subject to our usual grant conditions)
Don’t limit yourself to a set of slides – how about a model, a simulation, a 3D fly through, a poem, a painting, song or a sculpture? The sky is the limit!
What’s your vision of the way in which our roads (motorways, highways or streets) could best work for us all as we square up to the challenges of the next 50 years?
What is your idea?
How does it work?
Who
will it benefit?
The grants and prizes
5 x £5,000 grants
We will award a grant of £5,000 each to five of the most outstanding entrants, in any non-school category, in order to enable them to develop a more detailed proposal for the Rees Jeffreys Road Fund Trustees to consider, subject to conditions. Guidance will be given.
The £150,000 fund is available as grants to support one or more of these more detailed proposal(s) and will be awarded on merit, as decided by the Competition Judges.
These five selected entries will be funded to further develop their proposals for grant of up to £150,000.
This part of the Competition is now closed and the grant winners will be announced on 3 December.
2 x £5,000 prizes and
4 x £2,000 prizes for schools
There will be a cash prize of £5,000 for the best entry in each of the categories: primary schools and schools / colleges, plus two runners-up prizes of £2,000 in each schools category
As part of the entry process, we'd like to you to tell us how you'd want to spend the money!
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The closing date for this part of the Competition is 19 November 2021.
Judges’ Special Prizes
We will also give discretionary prizes, based on merit, to highly commended entries
Runner up prizes
Winners, runners-up and commended entrants will be receive a framed certificate signed by the Judges
Key dates
Competition launch and webinar
Deadline for grant entries
Deadline for Schools entries
Grant Winners revealed
Grant shortlist announced
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The competition is launched with a webinar: 14 September 2021
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The competition entry deadline is 22 October
 2021, except for school entries, which is 19 November 2021.
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The Judges will assess entries remotely
 between 23 October and 25 November 2021
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The shortlist for grant awards will be announced on November 24 2021
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Detailed judging will take place up to 29 November 2021
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The winners will be revealed on December 3 2021 at a virtual event
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Shortlisted entrants will be contacted ahead of the shortlist being announced
How to enter
Entering is easy. Here is what you need to do...
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Select your Category: Please read the Competition category criteria and select the category that best represents you
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Make sure you complete all sections of the online Competition entry form answering these following four key criteria in your description:
What is the idea?
How does it work?
Who will benefit?
How will the prize or grant money be spent?
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Submit your entry and completed entry form via the Competition website
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You can send in entries in any format that is publishable on the website, and can be viewed via the Competition website:
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Video: .mp4/.mV4 or YouTube (max 3 mins)
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Audio: max 3 mins
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Photography: zipped folder of up to 10MB
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As a Word, PowerPoint or PDF document, up to a maximum of 1,500 words
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Leaflets, reports and other supporting material do not count towards the word count
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Supporting evidence: assemble additional supporting material in a user-friendly manner and send in one zipped folder. If the judges want to see more information, they will ask for it
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Competition catgories
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primary school (up to 11)*
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secondary school (11-18 including sixth form colleges)*
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university or college
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SME / startup
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other business
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individuals
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community groups / charities / not-for-profit
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*See seperate school prizes and criteria
Entry to the Competition is free. Only UK-based individuals or organisations may enter. (see Competition Rules for more information)
The Judges
Clear decision-making criteria will be applied to the selection of winning entries:
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how well the idea responded to the competition question and guidance
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how well the idea aligns with The Fund’s objectives, including promoting diversity and inclusivity
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innovation and creativity of presentation
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quality of thinking and research
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resonance with both public and policymakers
As Trustees of his fund today, I and my fellow trustees are acutely conscious of the fact that Rees Jeffreys saw roads not just as a way of fuelling an economy but as giving people more opportunity to get out and about - to leave the towns and cities and enjoy the countryside’
Steve Gooding, Trustee and Judge
