Colin reaches the #PitchToRich final

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Hegarty_CameronColin set to pitch Richard Branson for six figure investment

We are pleased to announce that Colin Hegarty, one of the previous winners of our Let Teachers SHINE competition, has reached the final of Virgin Media’s ‘Pitch to Rich’ competition. This means he will be now be pitching Richard Branson himself, with the aim of securing £150,000 investment from him. Colin is the creator of HegartyMaths, an incredible online platform where children young people can access maths tutorials for free. He has created over 1000 videos to help children (as well as their teachers and parents) feel more comfortable with maths and enable them learn at their own pace outside the classroom.

Colin will be pitching his vision of HegartyMaths to Richard Branson on Friday 26th June. If he wins, he will receive a £150,000 marketing campaign from Virgin Media which will enable him to grow HegartyMaths and his free maths tutorials will reach even more children. Colin will also receive mentoring and business advice from Virgin Media for the next 12 months. This is a fantastic opportunity for HegartyMaths.

Thank you so much to all our friends and supporters who voted for Colin in the Pitch to Rich competition.

Why is HegartyMaths so important?

Maths is a core subject, yet many students unfortunately fall behind in the subject in school because of a lack of confidence and support. Colin wants to change children’s views of Maths from “can’t do” to “can do”. The HegartyMaths website does just that. By offering simple and visually intuitive explanations in his videos, Colin has changed many students’ minds about maths. ST said Colin’s videos are “inspirational” and another said the videos “gave me confidence”.

Since SHINE supported first backed him in 2012, Colin’s videos have helped thousands of pupils around the world. HegartyMaths is also unique as it is used by schools and teachers as additional homework and support for their students. Parents can also follow the videos so they can help their children with the work.

If you’ve not seen his work yet, check out www.hegartymaths.com.

Good luck Colin, from everyone here at SHINE.