Introducing VNATION, an ambitious robotics team from St Margaret Ward Catholic Academy in Stoke-on-Trent.

Who they are:

Robotics team VNation from St Margaret Ward Catholic Academy are the only school from Stoke-on-Trent to win a spot at the FIRST Tech Challenge UK National Championship at the Copperbox Arena in London on April 21-22 2026.

VNATION is a very strong team with an incredible background:

2023: National Design Award Winner at the UK National Championship 2023.

2024: Regional Winning Alliance and Regional Innovate Award Winner at the West Midlands Qualifying Tournament + qualified for the UK National Championship in 2024.

2025: Regional Inspire Award second place at the West Midlands Qualifying Tournament. Top 10 qualifier at the UK National Championship.

2026: Regional Inspire Award first place and Regional Winning Alliance at the West Midlands Qualifying Tournament. National rank TBA.

The team has students ranging from Year 9 to Year 13, including a majority girls and other backgrounds that are not well represented in STEM. Over the course of the year they design, build and program a robot to meet the year's theme. This year's theme is Decode, and includes raising awareness about archaeology and the way that local archaeologists decode the things they find. They also participate in various outreach and charitable activities, including delivering STEM sessions to primary school children, and raising money for international charities supporting countries such as South Sudan, Nigeria and Pakistan.

Why they need money:

The two day competition in London costs the team over £1500 for hotel rooms, over £700 for train tickets and over £300 for tube tickets. They can't do it without your help!

Are you a business thinking about supporting the team?

Leave your business name on the donation message, and the team will add your logo to their pit banner to thank you for your support, and indicate your generosity to the thousands of visiting industry professionals and students! Or, if you'd like to be involved in a bigger capacity, please contact the fundraiser organiser.

There's the saying that it takes a village to raise a child - and in this case, it takes an entire community to take these incredible students to Champs!

THANK YOU for your support of some of the most incredible students you could meet!