03 March 2010

Keeping Mum: Alun Wyn Jones visits primary school in support of Mum’s award-winning idea

Proving that success runs in families, Welsh rugby hero Alun Wyn Jones visited pupils of a Llanelli primary school this Tuesday (2 March) to help support his Mum’s award winning giant floor map.

Former teacher Ann Jones and her business partner, Rowena Wells, won Ordnance Survey’s GeoVation Awards in January this year, earning them an £11,000 windfall to help develop their MaxiMap idea.

The MaxiMap is a huge 20 square metre map of Britain, designed to be walked and played on, with the aim of exciting children about geography, teaching concepts like scale and distance and the impacts of climate change.

Alun Wyn was on hand during the morning to help pupils get to grips with his Mum’s idea.

The GeoVation Awards aimed to help individuals, businesses and communities bring their map-based ideas to life. Ann and Rowena overcame competition from eight other shortlisted entries to win the grand prize at a ‘Dragons’ Den’ style event in London earlier in the year.

Schools across the country have the chance to get hold of their own giant MaxiMap, as Alun Wyn’s visit marked the start of the ‘Win with Alun Wyn’ competition, where pupils are asked to write to him, explaining why their school deserves to win.

For more information on MaxiMap, visit www.maximap.net

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