Portakabin announced as new sponsor of Educate Awards

A new partnership for education excellence

Educate Awards is the largest education awards in the North West. It has just announced a new partnership with Portakabin for its 2025 awards.

The Educate Awards is now in its fourteenth year. The 2025 ceremony is set to take place at Liverpool Cathedral on Friday 14 November. The awards celebrate the achievements of schools, colleges, teachers, and support staff from across the North West.

Portakabin is the leading company in modular building infrastructures. It works closely within the education sector and has joined the established list of associate sponsors for this year’s Educate Awards. Portakabin will sponsor the brand-new category, School Library of the Year.

Building spaces that inspire

The sponsorship announcement comes at a pertinent time within education. The government recently pledged £10 million in funding to ensure that every primary school in England has a library by 2029.

Portakabin provides both temporary and permanent modular buildings. From whole schools and large lecture theatres to individual classrooms and specialist subject environments, Portakabin works across the UK and Europe. As the leading experts in this field, the educational spaces Portakabin creates support all levels of education and student needs.

Commenting on the exciting sponsorship announcement, Dan Ibbetson, CEO at Portakabin said:

“Portakabin is delighted to be the inaugural sponsor of Educate Award’s School Library of the Year category.

“We recognise the vital role reading spaces play in schools and how they can transform the learning experience of children, inspiring a lifelong love of reading from an early age. That’s why we have launched a UK-wide competition to help address the shortage of school libraries and give one deserving school the opportunity to design their dream library.

“When we discovered that Educate Awards had introduced School Library of the Year as a new category this year, it felt only natural for us to become sponsors of the award.”

The Educate Awards showcases the outstanding achievements of schools, academies and colleges across the North West.

Its new School Library of the Year category celebrates schools and colleges with outstanding library environments. Specifically, spaces that inspire a love of reading, support academic achievement, and encourage a sense of community within the school.

Whether it is through dynamic reading programmes, diverse collections of books, or inspiring initiatives, the award honours the most exceptional school libraries that are making a meaningful impact within communities.

Kim O’Brien, founder of Educate Awards, said:

“We are delighted to have Portakabin join us as an associate sponsor of this year’s awards. It is even more special that they are sponsors of our brand-new category School Library of the Year.

“The dedication of Portakabin to provide learning environments that foster a love of reading closely align with our own values and we’re incredibly grateful that the international company has pledged its support for this year’s awards.”

Celebrating achievements and inspiring the future

Preparation for Educate Awards 2025 is underway. The winner of School Library of the Year will be announced at a glittering ceremony hosted at the Liverpool Anglican Cathedral on Friday 14 November.

This was an extremely popular category. The Educate Award’s team of independent judges deliberated intently. The three schools in this year’s shortlist for School Library of the Year are:

• Our Lady of Compassion RC Primary School, Sefton
• St Hilda’s CE High School, Liverpool
• St Mary’s Catholic Junior Academy, St Helens

The Educate Awards promises a spectacular evening. It features:

• show-stopping live performances from schools across the region
• a three-course gala dinner
• the highly anticipated awards ceremony itself

Portakabin has recently launched a nationwide competition. It invites all UK primary school pupils and teachers to design their dream library. Portakabin will award the winner a fully equipped building to use as a library and reading space for 12 months.And also, a runner up prize of a £50 National Book Token (terms and conditions apply) being up for grabs.

The competition ends on 5 December. The winners will be announced on 12 December at 12pm on the Portakabin social media channels.

You can learn more about the Inspiring Libraries competition and find out how your school can get involved here.