Neil Clark, the Media & IT Co-ordinator at UWESU, has decided to withdraw his first-place idea from the competition.
“Display & sell artwork (canvases / prints etc) by UWE artists at Frenchay, earning money for artists and making Frenchay more interesting.”
This idea has seen an unprecedented level of support during the heat, scoring significantly higher than the 2nd place idea. But while we are disappointed with his decision we feel that it is the right one. Neil’s close involvement and support for the competition could give him an unfair advantage and this would not be fair to other competitors.
Best for Neil to speak for himself:
“I’m really happy to see that the idea to display and sell artwork by UWE students has had such good support, but since the Beermat Challenge is aimed at generating ideas from students I think it’s only fair if I withdraw this idea from the competition now.
I’m hoping I can help this simple idea become a reality and I know there’s support from key people in the SU at Bower Ashton and it would create a positive connection between students at Bower Ashton & Frenchay Campuses. Having regular exhibitions of student artwork on the main campus would give good exposure to UWE’s artists and there’s a large community of students and staff who may like to own some affordable and original artwork.”
David Brennand, Head of the Innovation & Enterprise Division at UWE, comments:
“It’s unfortunate but we feel Neil has made the right choice in withdrawing his idea for the good of the competition. Nevertheless the Innovation and Enterprise team at UWE look forward to working with the SU to develop this great idea. The Beermat Challenge continues to see a lot of interest from students, staff and alumni and it’s fantastic to see such a strong response to this and other ideas.”
This now leaves a very close race to the finish of the current heat for the new Top-Five ideas, with only a few votes separating them. More on that later today!
