Schools across North West Leicestershire are getting fired up for a new competition being launched by renowned entrepreneur Hilary Devey and Leicestershire County Council.

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Teams from five schools have been invited to the Ellistown hub of Hilary’s Pall-Ex freight network to take part in a special Dragons’ Den style event. It has been designed to help highlight Leicestershire County Council’s Star Travel Scheme, which aims to reduce the number of car journeys during the daily school run and promote other ways of getting safely to the school gates.

Each team has been asked to develop an idea for their school to encourage and promote more active forms of travel, such as walking, cycling and scooting. They will then pitch their idea to a panel of Dragons, made up of representatives from both Pall-Ex and Leicestershire County Council’s Travel Choice and Access Team.

If a Dragon takes a particular liking to an idea, that school will receive a grant of £500 from the council, as part of money awarded from the government through its Local Sustainable Transport Fund, to implement the concept. The two pupils that the panel feel presented the best idea overall will also receive a Kindle ebook reader each from Pall-Ex.

Commenting on the initiative, Hilary said:

“When I first heard about the Star Travel Scheme, I was keen to get involved. As a business, Pall-Ex is designed to reduce the number of lorries on the road and lessen the impact on the environment, so our goals are quite similar.

“I know that we have many budding young entrepreneurs in Leicestershire and I’m confident that the ideas they come up with will be both creative and inspiring. I’ve given my team at Pall-Ex some pointers on what makes a good Dragons’ Den pitch, so they’re all ready to say ‘I’m in’ to the best ideas.”

During their visit to Pall-Ex, pupils will also get a guided tour of the 267,000 sq ft hub, and hear from Hilary’s team about how she went from selling her house and car to raise enough money to launch Pall-Ex, to become on of the country’s best known business figures.

Lesley Pendleton, Leicestershire County Council Cabinet Member for Environment and Transport, added: “We are delighted to be working with Pall-Ex to help inspire youngsters to get creative in trying to reduce congestion at the school gates.

“We are looking forward to welcoming them into the Dragons’ Den to and listening to their pitches.”

The schools taking part in the competition are:

Our Lady’s Convent School

Boothwood Primary School

Loughborough Church of England Primary School

Rendell Primary School

Saint Winefride’s Catholic Primary School

Pall-Ex

www.pallex.co.uk

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