The annual Innovation in Wool Awards is back and the 2024 edition comes with an impressive prize pot of £30,000. The awards are open to anyone with a commercial project “which showcases wool in a new, novel, inspirational or innovative way”.
Applicants are invited from those working in a wide range of disciplines including apparel, interior, the building sector, insulation, agricultural, horticulture, medical, aquaculture or other scientific and novel industrial wool applications.
Although entrants can be based anywhere in the world, any further innovation, development and upscaling will have to be based in the UK; offer value to British wool farming; include British wool fibre; use British manufacturing; and indicate the potential wool volume used in year one and future years scaling up volumes.
It's overseen by The Woolmen's Company Charitable Incorporated Organisation, The Company of The Merchants of the Staple of England Charitable Trust, and The Worshipful Company of Clothiers (Worcester), and the initiative is supported by the Campaign for Wool. The closing date for applications is 21 July with the winners announced on 17 September.
The organisers said: “The award was created in response to the UK wool industry, which has for a long time been in decline. There are now however, promising signs that the industry is starting to show an upturn, and so the Campaign for Wool is supporting the Companies' joint initiative to encourage innovation and new uses and applications of wool fit for the 21st Century and its demands.”
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