The Centre for Leadership Performance is thrilled and incredibly proud to announce the winners in the latest Bright Stars programme, which celebrates the achievements of our amazing young entrepreneurs from primary schools across Cumbria.
Over 380 pupils from 17 primary schools, supported by 18 businesses, were given a challenge to create a business that ‘makes a difference in your community’ and all in just 9 weeks!
Starting with a £50 stake they were tasked with creating their own social enterprise ideas. They all responded with creativity, empathy and a true entrepreneurial spirt to deliver real social impact in their communities – making a difference whilst making a profit.
Bright Stars Spring/Summer 2026 generated a range of brilliant ideas and the social enterprises the pupils have developed made a huge impact in their local communities and raised nearly £8k in profit to date, for good causes. The pupils have shown creativity and improved their teamwork and resilience, whilst developing new essential skills in leadership, team working and communication, building their confidence and self-belief and, of course, having lots of fun whilst doing this!
You can see all the brilliant Bright Stars projects online here.
A Brisbane Park Infant School teacher has this to say:
“Bright Stars has encompassed everything that I love about teaching. Children have had control over a project, developed their interaction with a a wide range of people and spread happiness. Each individual has had the opportunity to show and develop their skills. Children have gained confidence with 2 children demonstrating sign language and teaching the submariners, which would not have been possible without this project. We have explored business, inclusion and kindness with our new friends from HMS Dreadnought. Most importantly we have had engaged and happy children.”
Another teacher from Ormsgill Nursery & Primary School stated:
“The Bright Stars programme allowed my children to experience something new and something REAL. They had an incredible time and learnt so much. They loved seeing how the essential skills (teamwork, creativity, problem solving, etc) can relate to real life, which helped them understand the importance of these skills. We feel very fortunate to have been a part of it and have loved every minute!”
All pupils, schools and businesses that have been involved are now getting ready to celebrate their achievements. CforLP will be visiting the winning schools in the week of 6 July 2026, to present a trophy, certificates and a cash prize to the school. The CforLP team look forward to learning even more about the winning project from the pupils and their business partners during their visit.
Huge congratulations to all our Bright Stars pupils, schools and their business partners. The team at CforLP are inspired by each and every one of you.
The Bright Stars Spring/Summer 2026 Winners are all listed below:
Best Community Engagement
Winning School: Moor Row Community Primary School
Business Mentor: Bechtel & Cavendish Nuclear Solutions
Social Enterprise: To celebrate the school’s 150th anniversary, Moor Row Memories researched their history, including interviewing older members of the community, to create a celebration book to sell. The book included all the photos and information they had collected.
Reason for win: Moor Row Community School won because their Bright Stars project showed outstanding community engagement throughout. Their ‘Moor Row Memories’ team worked closely with villagers, interviewed past pupils and former staff, gathered stories and photographs to create a book celebrating 150 years of school history. They built strong links across generations, involved the whole community in their research and demonstrated real care and respect for local heritage. This is clear evidence of outstanding community engagement.
Highly Commended School: Gosforth C of E Primary School
Business Mentor: Mott MacDonald
Social Enterprise: The Kindness Crew made soaps, bracelets, 3D prints and cakes to sell to raise funds to create Kindness Kits for Calderwood House residents. The decorated bags included a handmade felted heart and toiletries.
Feedback: Gosforth Primary School really impressed us with how deeply they connected with their community. Their Kindness Crew created thoughtful Kindness Kits for Calderwood House, made crafts to sell and raised £236.78 to support people who need a boost. The children showed real empathy, teamwork and determination from designing logos to packing bags and running a busy sale. Their kindness has reached far beyond their classroom, which is why they are Highly Commended for Best Community Engagement.
Best Logo and Marketing Campaign
Winning School: Victoria Infant and Nursery School (Barrow)
McLaughlin & Harvey
Sponsored by BAE Systems Ltd
Social Enterprise: The Beautiful Bags Squad designed, made and sold hand painted, reusable bags with a positive message on them. They sold ice pops after school to raise extra funds throughout the project to fund their project.
Reason for win: This Bright Stars project showed exceptional creativity, design thinking and promotional skills. Their Beautiful Bags Squad created a standout logo, designed by a pupil and professionally refined using AI. The Squad then backed it up with a strong marketing approach, including Facebook advertising, product photography, sales pitches and clear, well‑researched pricing. They demonstrated a strong understanding of how branding and marketing work together to promote a product, making their campaign one of the most effective and polished in the programme.
Highly Commended School: Langwathby C of E School
Business Mentor: Hardwick Heritage
Sponsored by See It To Be It (Cumbria Arts and Culture Network)
Social Enterprise: The Crafty Badgers created a caricature photo booth for their village May Day, as well as making keyrings, bookmarks, coasters and rag wreaths to sell.
Feedback: Lanwathby C of E School really impressed us with their creative logo and brilliant marketing campaign. Their Crafty Badgers team designed a standout logo, made posters, emails and Facebook posts, and even ran a caricature photo booth at their village May Day event, helping them make a profit of £157. Their imagination, teamwork and clever advertising helped their project shine, which is why they are Highly Commended for Best Logo and Marketing Campaign.
Most Profitable Social Enterprise
Winning School: Victoria Infant School (Workington)
Business Mentor: The Vicky
Sponsored by NSG
Social Enterprise: WOW Wonders of Workington wanted to tell people all about the wonders of Workington and share how WOW Workington is. They created artwork and other enterprise products to sell at an art exhibition (Wonders of Workington Day), which they organised. The exhibition also allowed them to share their learning about the town and local history.
Reason for win: This Bright Stars project achieved the highest profit in the entire competition, raising an outstanding £1,538. Their WOW Wonders of Workington team planned and delivered a large‑scale art exhibition celebrating local history, created enterprise items linked to Workington landmarks, and confidently sold their products to parents, community members and even the Mayor. Their strong organisation, clear pricing strategy, teamwork and ability to run a successful public event resulted in exceptional financial success, making them the top‑earning social enterprise in Bright Stars this year.
Highly Commended School: Victoria Academy (Barrow)
Business Mentor: Oxley Developments
Social Enterprise: Victoria on the Rescue made cakes, popcorn, sweet cones and squishies to sell and then organised a cake sale at Oxley’s (their business partner), a cake sale at the school and a movie night. They raised money for Mountain Rescue.
Feedback: This Bright Stars project achieved an exceptional profit of £1,522.60. Their ‘Victoria on the Rescue’ team delivered a series of well‑planned fundraising events, including a hugely successful movie night and multiple cake sales, showing strong organisation, teamwork and financial understanding. Their profit was one of the highest across all schools, and they would have won this category outright had another school not exceeded their total by just £15.40! Their results clearly demonstrate outstanding enterprise skills and an impressive ability to turn ideas into real financial success.
Best and Most Positive Long-Term Impact
Winning School: Brisbane Park Infant School
Business Mentor: Royal Navy (HMS Dreadnought)
Sponsored by BAE Systems Ltd
Social Enterprise: The Brisbane Park Seeds of Kindness team used recycled paper and seeds to create plantable cards to encourage bees and make the environment nicer as the flowers grow. The team learnt British Sigh Language (BSL) to make the school and community more inclusive. They held a community coffee morning and performed songs (with BSL) and sold their cards there.
Reason for win: This Bright Stars project has made a real difference that will last. The children learned new skills, worked with submariners and veterans, made plantable cards and raised money to keep their kindness going. Seeing their progress each week, how they have grown in confidence, helped their community and shown that even young children can create a positive impact that continues long after the project ends, was impactful.
Highly Commended School: Jericho Primary School
Business Mentor: UK National Nuclear Laboratory Ltd (UKNNL)
Social Enterprise: Once Upon a Popcorn created a library of donated books and sold popcorn, to encourage pupils to read more and help them to enjoy some quiet time while renting a book and eating popcorn.
Feedback: This was a wonderful long‑term impact Bright Stars project. The ‘Once Upon a Popcorn’ team created a brilliant idea that encouraged reading and made an impressive profit of £456. They sold popcorn, opened the library at lunchtimes so children could come and read with them, and even presented their project in assembly. Their confidence, creativity and commitment to helping others will continue well beyond the project, which is why they are Highly Commended for Best and Most Positive Long‑Term Impact.
Best Team Work, Collaboration and Leadership
Winning School: Maryport C of E Primary School
Business Mentor: Forth Engineering (West Cumbria)
Social Enterprise: The Lime Class Sock Rangers collected and recycled materials (buttons, socks and pillow stuffing) to make sock monkeys at a family sock making morning event. The sock monkeys were sold with a printed certificate of adoption and a ‘how to look after your sock monkey’ leaflet. They also made sweet bags to sell, along with lollipops and milkshakes.
Reason for win: Maryport C of E Primary School showed fantastic teamwork, collaboration and leadership as the Lime Class Sock Rangers. They worked together to create and sell sock monkeys, sharing ideas, taking on different roles and helping each other with tricky tasks like sewing. They involved families in a workshop, worked with their mentor Woody and made decisions as a team. Together, they raised a brilliant profit and donated £200 to help the animals at Knoxwood Wildlife Rescue, showing excellent teamwork and leadership throughout.
Highly Commended School: Inglewood Nursery and Infant School
Business Mentor: Eden Valley Hospice
Social Enterprise: This Bright Stars team created the Deer Café and made cakes to sell, as well as running a tombola with donated toys at a coffee morning.
Feedback: Inglewood Nursery and Infant School showed fantastic teamwork, collaboration and leadership throughout their Bright Stars project. The children worked together to plan and run their own coffee morning, designing posters, organising the hall, baking cakes and confidently serving lots of visitors. Their brilliant cooperation helped them make a profit of £123, and they supported each other every step of the way. Their teamwork and growing leadership skills really shone, which is why they are Highly Commended for Best Teamwork, Collaboration and Leadership.
Every Bright Stars project was fantastic this year, so it was very hard to pick the winners and highly commended schools… everyone taking part did amazing work. Well done EVERYONE and thanks for being Bright Stars!
As a Moor Row Community Primary Pupil said:
“Teamwork is hard but worth it!”
We hope everyone had fun along the way and learnt about the excitement of doing business and being an entrepreneur through being part of Bright Stars!
We want to thank all the schools and partners who took part and to celebrate the incredible achievements of all our young entrepreneurs from primary schools across Cumbria.
Join us for the next Bright Stars projects – as a school or business – and support a future generation of change makers and social entrepreneurs!
Plans are now in place for the Autumn/Winter 2026 and Spring/Summer 2027 Bright Stars programmes.
The CforLP already has a list of schools signed up and is seeking more, but they need companies to partner and invest in the programme so they can participate.
If your school or business would like to take part in a future Bright Stars project, please contact hazel.duhy@cforlp.org.uk or register online, see links at: https://cforlp.org.uk/bright-stars-primary/
