Big Give Christmas Challenge

Big Give Christmas Challenge 2025

The Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET), through its Futures Fund, has signed up for the Big Give Christmas Challenge 2025. The IET will be fundraising to give more young people the opportunity to experience real-world STEM challenges and valuable life skills that can support them in their future careers.

Mark your calendar and help the IET spread the word from 2-9 December - your donation will have the opportunity to be doubled!

This year, the IET received a significant number of applications from underrepresented groups in STEM that it cannot currently fund. This festive season, help the IET provide hands-on STEM experiences to more children through FIRST^® LEGO^® League.

FIRST^® LEGO^® League is an inspiring, global programme for young people, which develops confidence, problem solving, teamwork and STEM skills all whilst investigating a real-world theme. Your donation will directly enable children aged 6-16 years to explore their interest in engineering and technology.

Why is FIRST^® LEGO^® League important?

– Inspire future engineers: early STEM education helps break negative stereotypes and encourages more children to consider careers in engineering and technology.

– Hands-on learning: FIRST^® LEGO^® League provides practical experiences that inspire and educate young minds.

– Address the STEM skills gap: the UK faces a significant STEM skills gap, costing £1.5bn annually. Only 16.9% of engineers are women, and 14% are disabled.

How your donation helps:

– Matched funding: from 2-9 December, you have the opportunity for your donation to be matched, doubling the impact on children’s STEM education.

– Engineering made accessible for all: encourage more young people from all backgrounds to discover a passion for engineering.

How your support creates tomorrow’s problem-solvers

Funding from IET Futures Fund enabled Team Activ8 to take part in the FIRST^® LEGO^® League year after year, growing from three beginners into a team of ten award-winning innovators. Their journey includes creating SenSea, an underwater submersible using Raspberry Pi for ocean monitoring, and winning the “Rising All Stars Award” at the Australian Open Championship.

As one team member shared:

“We're not only learning technical skills, like hardware and building and coding. We're also learning lots of soft skills, like public speaking, teamwork and more such as cooperation and all of our core values.”

Beyond technical skills, they’ve developed resilience, teamwork, and leadership - skills that will benefit them for life. This story shows why funding and campaigns like the Big Give matter. Your support can turn curiosity into capability and helps young people become tomorrow’s problem-solvers.

Donate between the 2-9 December: Big Give Christmas Challenge 2025