Winners and runners-up of the 2021/2022 Heywood Prize

The Heywood Foundation Public Policy Prize


The first challenge prize is for spotting key opportunities or possibilities created by the COVID-19 crisis:

  1. What is a key challenge or opportunity presented by the COVID-19 pandemic and its consequences?
Top Prize
Christopher John Spencer JonesWidespread adoption of online teaching provides a golden opportunity to address inequalities in education.
10 Runners-up
Archie CornishNeighbourliness: how to build post-pandemic infrastructure to support micro-community relations.
Harry NeichoUtilising the untapped potential of people across the country who want to make a difference
Jo PhillipsThe challenge of ghost-towns
Anton SpisakThe Great Acceleration: How the Covid-19 crisis can drive technology adoption and improve UK productivity
Nigel Peter V RichardsonCapitalising on a neglected asset: the nation’s working life experience
Graham John GouldThe elimination of rough sleeping
Richard LangridgeVIRTUALLY EDUCATION
Mark Lawrence WilkinsonHealth reserve force
James Bennie DixonHow do we fund an inclusive green renewal in cities, towns and countryside?
Veronica Anne ReadGovernment voices: speaking and listening to children’s voices- a dialogue

The second challenge prize seeks to find innovative answers to the challenges or opportunities presented:

  1. In the case of a problem, how might we fix it? In the case of an opportunity, how do we capitalise on it?
Top Prize
Geoffrey David CruikshanksA Territorial Army for the NHS
Second Prize
Andrew BealeIntegration of Citizen’s Assemblies as a formal part of UK governing structures
Third Prize
James George BaylissProviding extra and a smoother transition support for disabled graduates seeking work.
16 Runners-up
Ravi Kumar GuptaThe Return of the Jedi
James Paul AllanExpand provision and participation in community based lifelong learning.
Andrew HollandBuilding Digital Education Networks to integrate online learning into post COVID-19 education
Richard MilburnSolving The Big Issue – Using Recycling to End Homelessness
David John MaddamsCare Home First Responders (Matrons)
Chris WilliamsEat for Britain
Satyadev GunputFrom BAME to ‘Ethnic Minority in Britain’ – a changing approach to ethnic disparities
Raoul Wedge-ThomasWe Desperately Need To Rediscover The ‘Great’ In Great Britain!
Federico MorCreating a ‘health reserve’ to meet surge demand on the NHS
Tina LarcombePandemic response that will also future proof against further pandemics
Benjamin Caleb RobertsStudent Service scheme for care homes.
Theresa Joan HughesForward to the Village
Clive John Rae SwanHow best to combine information currently held and make it accessible for public use
Emily NeilsonCapitalising on volunteering for all – ‘Crowd-resourcing platform’!
Neil ChismanA QUICK WIN: ONE MILLION VOLUNTEERS TO TEACH ONE MILLION ADULT ILLITERATES TO READ.
Louis TrupiaMake companies pay for non-recyclable products they produce


The Heywood foundation believes that sometimes the best ideas come from unexpected people and places, and this is one of the many reasons why our institutions and public dialogue needs to be as open and inclusive as possible.

*The Heywood Prize has been created by the Heywood Foundation.  Jeremy Heywood served many Prime Ministers, and was Cabinet Secretary – the UK’s most senior Civil Servant – from 2012 to 2018. Jeremy was extremely open to new ideas, and actively sought out alternative perspectives. He was much more interested in the quality of the idea than the rank or seniority of the person who proposed it. He would make a point of regularly getting out of Whitehall to spend time in ‘frontline’ settings, from jobcentres to charities, to seek out innovations and unusual perspectives. The Heywood Prize seeks to continue that spirit of inclusivity and innovation.