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Time + Space Award

Illustration showing a young Sir Isaac Newton, Paul McCartney and Beatrix Potter against a colourful background
Sir Isaac Newton, Sir Paul McCartney and Beatrix Potter when they were younger | © National Trust Images/Mike McCartney/Alamy

Thank you to everyone who entered their big idea for the Time + Space Award. We’re pleased to announce the winners in each of the categories.

We received hundreds of inspiring ideas across each of our four categories: science, nature and climate, society and art and culture. Each of our winning entries was selected by a panel of judges and experts in their fields. Congratulations to our four winners and huge thanks to everyone who applied.

Meet the winners

Winner: Science

Abi Way

Abi is currently on a work placement with Airbus. She's looking to encourage and support visually impaired (VI) and blind children to participate in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), by providing a mentoring scheme and organised events and activities.

Based on her own experience, Abi has found that support for VI and blind students is lacking within the education system. Schools have limited resources and limited experience to support these students’ needs to help them work around everyday problems – for example, not being able to read the measuring units on the beakers in chemistry class or not having access to a calculator.  

This means VI and blind children are likely to miss vital content and not be able to fully access STEM activities such as science experiments in the classroom. Abi wants to create a support network to help others avoid the challenges she faced – somewhere to reach out to for advice and the support of others who can help them navigate school and beyond.

Dame Maggie Aderin-Pocock will mentor Abi to develop her idea.

Time + Space Award Winner - Abi Way
Abi Way, winner of the science category for the Time + Space Award | © Abi Way/National Trust

The prize

The chosen participants have won an award up to the equivalent value of £5,000, which will be a bespoke package including:

  • A private guided tour of Woolsthorpe Manor with members of the Woolsthorpe team and time to work on their big idea here.

  • The opportunity to showcase the winning big idea at Woolsthorpe Manor.

  • Tools and resources to help with the idea.

  • Meet the judge who's an expert in the subject area either in person or virtually.

  • The opportunity to work with an expert from the National Trust on the idea.

  • Dedicated mentoring time around the big idea.

  • A one-year free entry pass to National Trust places.

  • A book bundle featuring one book from each of the judges.

  • Travel and accommodation expenses.

Meet the judges

Judge: Science

Dame Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock

Dame Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock is a space scientist whose passion is demonstrating that science is for everyone. 

She’s an award-winning, BAFTA-nominated TV presenter and regular panel show member. Maggie has written seven books, served as President of the British Science Association (2021–2022) and is Chancellor of the University of Leicester.  

Dame Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock on a blue and pink background
Dame Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock | © National Trust/Lovelight Photography

What is the Time + Space Award?

Many great people have shaped the world we know today. Isaac Newton made discoveries in the fields of calculus and gravity, Beatrix Potter shared her passion for nature with stories such as Peter Rabbit and Paul McCartney made music with three other teenagers who went on to become The Beatles. These people, along with many others, lived in or loved the places that we now look after.

They all lived in separate eras and had individual passions, but one thing they had in common was that each of them had the time and space when they were young to explore their work and make things happen.

The Time + Space Award has been inspired by what Newton called his ‘year of wonders’. At the age of 23, Newton was forced to leave university and return home to Woolsthorpe Manor in Lincolnshire, a farmhouse we care for, because of a pandemic in 1666. He used this time to explore his ideas on calculus, optics and the laws of motion and gravity.

The winners of this award will now have the time, space and opportunity to develop their big idea in each of their four areas – science, nature and climate, society and art and culture. A panel of experts from the fields of science, creativity and culture will help them develop their idea and bring it to life.

Who was Isaac Newton?

Isaac Newton was always inspired by the natural environment and landscape around him. As a young child, his natural curiosity and ability to work well with his hands meant he’d already taken the first steps into a lifetime of observation and experimentation. The experiments he conducted, from as young as 15 years old, encouraged him to carry out further studies.

At 18 years old, Newton went to study at Trinity College in Cambridge. But in 1665, he was forced to leave university and return to his childhood home, Woolsthorpe Manor, to escape the Great Plague. It was here he explored the things that interested him and made world-changing discoveries on calculus, optics and the laws of motion and gravity.

An apple tree in the orchard at Woolsthorpe Manor is said to be the tree from which an apple fell and prompted Newton to ask why things always fell to the ground. He theorised that everything in existence is attracted to everything else and this attraction or power ties the universe together. You can still visit his childhood home and see the apple tree today.

An illustration of Sir Isaac Newton on a colourful background looking at a tree and an apple on the right side of the image

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