Energy firm Equinor has funded 11 innovative STEM projects (science, technology, engineering and maths) in Norfolk for the 2023/24 academic year through its Dudgeon Community Fund.

The fund, administered by the Norfolk Community Foundation, receives a donation of at least £100,000 per year from the Dudgeon Offshore Wind Farm, which is located off the Norfolk coast and operated by Equinor.

It was set up in 2018 to provide grants to local community groups, including schools and charities, delivering qualifying projects that focus on marine environment and safety, renewable energy and sustainability, or which provide education in these areas.

Among the projects that will receive grant funding for the forthcoming academic year are a robotics club, a boat-building club, a school’s introduction of virtual reality headsets into its science curriculum, a carbon budget competition, an out-of-hours design school and workshops linking hydrogen production to careers.

“The Dudgeon Community Fund’s STEM Programme aims to inspire students to consider a future STEM career, either through employment or further education, and I believe that the grants recently awarded fulfil that aim," said Ross McMillan, Dudgeon plant manager at Equinor.

“Last month the Dudgeon Community Fund supported The Royal Norfolk Agricultural Association’s launch of its new STEMM Village at the Royal Norfolk Show,” he continued.

“I visited the village on the first day of the show, and I was impressed by the many engineering and technology projects on display, and by the obvious appetite of students of all ages to be involved in such projects."