Blackwood has appointed Marie McQuade to assist pressure as many entries as conceivable to its design festival – the Blackwood Design Awards.
Extremely skilled Marie McQuade will now commit herself to elevating consciousness of the Blackwood Design Awards, which goal to change into the lives of those that want beef up to reside independently.
The Dragon’s Den-style festival has helped discover a number of inventions to assist other people with disabilities or age-related prerequisites – however was once placed on dangle for 2 years right through the pandemic.
Now it’s was hoping Ms Mcquade’s appointment will assist relaunch the refreshed festival which normally draws innovation and design breakthroughs from far and wide the sector.
She stated: “In Blackwood’s fiftieth 12 months, it’s extra essential than ever to have a good time and exhibit the fantastic innovations that experience the prospective to boost up the trade and supply vital advantages to peoples’ lives.
“Yearly people and organisations from around the globe ship of their considerate designs and we’re in reality having a look ahead to seeing who will publish what and from the place.
“This chance is massively thrilling and I’m in reality having a look ahead to setting up this distinctive and extremely impactful festival that may see new designs, applied sciences and variations come to existence.”
Ms Mcquade joins Blackwood with over 25 years’ enjoy within the charity sector, having labored in numerous roles, supporting reasons together with Sufferer Fortify Scotland and the Scottish Global Construction Alliance.
She prior to now held a senior function at THINK Consulting Answers, an Global fundraising specialist which has labored with charities far and wide the sector, growing contemporary, cutting edge answers to spice up no longer for benefit price range in a aggressive panorama.
Ms Mcquade has additionally supported 3rd Sector Organisations to develop their insights, source of revenue and affect at charities similar to Converting Faces UK, Maggie’s Most cancers Being concerned Centres and Mencap, the place she received a wealth of data in fundraising, occasions and communications.
Colin Foskett, Blackwood’s head of innovation, who kickstarted the Design Awards, stated: “Marie comes with an incredible quantity of enjoy and data within the charity and fundraising sector and is completely provided to ship the Design Awards to the easiest usual.
“She has already thrown herself into the roles handy and we’re each in reality having a look ahead to welcoming this 12 months’s superb choice of up-and-coming innovators.”
Ms Mcquade’s paintings will see her drawing near universities, innovation hubs, tech incubators and different organisations with a stake in design, engineering and generation to inspire them to go into the awards.
She will even play an instrumental function in setting up the development, together with attracting sponsorship and recruiting contributors of the judging panel for the Dragon’s Den-style festival, which is able to see entries evaluated on their talent to change into lives.
Earlier winners have incorporated an app that is helping make dwelling areas more secure for other people with dementia and inventor Grant Douglas’ ‘spill-proof’ spoon – the S’up Spoon – designed for the ones suffering from prerequisites which lead them to shake. Key classes come with Best possible Collaborative Venture, Best possible New Thought and Best possible New Aids, Apparatus or Out there Era.
Teams or people can practice for the Blackwood Design Awards which can be open to each seasoned execs and talented amateurs, which means that each technologically complicated and the ones more effective, but continuously maximum a hit designs, are similarly welcome.
