A London philanthropist has launched a competition for young people to imagine the world of the future, as part of a celebration of his 96th birthday.
Sir Jack Petchey, who celebrated the milestone this Monday (July 19), is offering a cash prize of £500 to someone in London and Essex who presents the most compelling vision of how the world will look in 96 years time.
Sir Jack’s Forward to the Future competition is open for entries from now until September 30. Entries can include writing, art, videos, music, photography and anything else that explores the topic of a positive vision of life in 2117.
Young people can view the full terms and conditions and enter the competition via the Jack Petchey Foundation’s website: https://www.jackpetcheyfoundation.org.uk/forward-to-the-future-competition/
Sir Jack, who was born in London’s East End in 1925 and served in the Second World War established the Jack Petchey Foundation in 1999, after building a huge property empire from the 1950s.
The foundation is a grant-giving organisation that funds a wide variety of opportunities for young people across London and Essex. It has given away a total of £143m in grants since its launch.
Sir Jack said: “I want the young people we work with to learn to believe in themselves and that’s where we get our saying from: If you think you can you can. If they’ve got belief in themselves then, as a Foundation, we’ve done our job properly.”