2025 Cinnamon Incubator Final Winner Announces

On Thursday 13 November, BRITE Box fought off stiff competition to win the 2025 Cinnamon Incubator Competition at St Peter’s Church, Notting Hill, London.

Since April, Cinnamon have been looking for ambitious church-led social action projects that are addressing emerging challenges in their communities and want to replicate their work.

Five finalists pitched their initiatives in front of a panel of judges, invited guests for a chance to win a £20,000 development grant.

Sarah Clay, founder of Voice of Hopes, the charity behind the project (https://www.voh.org.uk/brite-box/), presented an emotional pitch about the organisation which provides fantastic recipe kits, ingredients and an illustrated recipe guide to help families to cook a healthy meal on a budget.

BRITE Box aims to address the issue of food insecurity and childhood malnutrition by bringing families together around food, building skills and confidence to enjoy cooking and eat well.

Currently, BRITE Box is delivered by over 30 schools in eight different UK Boroughs, but their ambition is to grow in even more locations.

All finalists have secured a place on Cinnamon’s coveted two-year Incubator Programme where they will receive support from industry professionals to help them grow and replicate their work for the benefit of communities across the UK.

Since 2013, the Cinnamon Incubator Programme has helped 58 initiatives go from fledgling organisations to become established charities. Alumni of the programme include TLG Make Lunch and Renew Wellbeing, who are now operating in hundreds of locations across the UK.

The judges were particularly impressed with the innovation and determination of the winners who have already achieved so much with limited resources.

Sarah Clay, Founder of BRITE Box said: “This is incredible and all the finalists were outstanding. funds will make such a difference, but I can’t tell you how much I’m looking forward to the Incubator Programme – just journeying with the other pioneers who have a similar vision. There are so many challenges facing grassroots charities and it will be great to immerse ourselves in learning and growing together.”

Mark Kitson, Associate Director at Cinnamon and head of the judging panel, said: “The passion of this evening’s finalists was incredible and it’s people like our finalists who give us reason to be hopeful. I can’t wait to get to know them and their projects better over the course of the Incubator Programme.”

You can support our finalists on their journey of growth and replication at cinnamonnetwork.co.uk.donate