GIFTED students who wowed judges with their engineering skills are a step closer to the final of a national competition, thanks to an appeal made in the Bridport News.

Students from the Sir John Colfox Academy need money for materials, transport and accommodation costs if they want to make it to the final of a Land Rover/Jaguar STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) contest.

The students competed in a regional cross-curricular STEM challenge offered by the car manufacturing giants earlier this month, when they had to design a shell for a remote controlled 4x4 rock crawler vehicle complete with automatic lights which came on in the dark and a tilt sensor which sounds when the vehicle tilts past 25 degrees.

The challenge required precise specifications and had to be completed in a limited time frame. The students also needed to create a portfolio of their work, a pit display, a verbal presentation, code all of the electronics and fit them to the vehicle.

After impressing judges across the board, the STEM Storm Squared team of Cara Hatch, Jake Randall and Eddie Rose is now seeking help get to the national final at the British Transport Museum in Warwick.

A crowdfunding page has been set up and, following an appeal in The Bridport News earlier this month, Bridport Rotary Club has responded with a £500 donation.

Chairman of the club’s youth opportunities committee, Roger Pollock, said the club is ‘really focused’ on helping the youth of Bridport.

On behalf of team STEM Storm Squared, Eddie said: “We are incredibly grateful for the generous support of the Rotary Club of Bridport.

“The grant will help us buy materials and components for the project as well as help with accommodation and transport.”

After final, the team will attend a Rotary club meeting to explain and demonstrate the project by way of thanks for its support.

There is still time to donate. For more information, visit crowdfunder.co.uk and search ‘STEM Storm’.