The StaRRship campaign, which is a collaboration between the RAF, Rolls-Royce and the Royal Air Forces Association, won the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Award at the Women In Defence UK Awards 2019.
The project, set up as part of the 2018 RAF100 celebrations, tapped into young people’s love of smart phone technology by setting up a YouTube channel for people from all backgrounds.
One of the YouTube videos asked viewers to imagine that they had received a distress call from space, creating an exciting adventure showcasing what could be accomplished with technology and ambition.
StaRRship has gained over 9,000 regular subscribers in just over a year, and videos produced by the team have over nine million views. The audience is diverse, and significant engagement has come from girls and young women.
Rachel Huxford, Director of Marketing, Fundraising and Trading for the RAF Association, said: “This is a great win for a marvellous online campaign which has helped to get a great many young people engaged in STEM subjects. We’re very grateful to Rolls-Royce for their sponsorship and expertise, and to the RAF for its invaluable support.”
Air Marshal Sue Gray, Director-General of the Defence Safety Authority, said: “Tonight is not only a celebration of these extraordinary women, but of how far women in defence have come. Defence needs to recruit and retain the best talent to remain at the forefront of innovation across so many emerging technologies.”
Jennifer Quigley-Jones, CEO of YouTube creator marketing agency Digital Voices, said: “Working on this project was incredibly rewarding. We partnered with some inspirational YouTube creators to engage millions of young people online with STEM topics in a way that the RAF had not previously attempted.
“The project highlighted the fact that girls sometimes don’t believe they can have a career in science and technology. The YouTube channel included strong, real-world female role models and integrated engaging visuals and storylines to make STEM feel more fun, creative and accessible to girls.”
Dave Gordon, Senior Vice President of Rolls-Royce Defence, said: “We’re absolutely thrilled that StaRRship has won this award, and would like to thank all our working partners who took part in this project. Our aim was to inspire young people to use today’s technology and tomorrow’s imagination to power future innovation.
“Rolls-Royce has been partnering with the RAF to pioneer innovation since it first took to the skies in 1918. We wanted to embrace that spirit of innovation and use it to inspire budding engineers and pilots.”
