Change of Scene, a charity helping young people find a route back into education, has scooped the big prize in the education & arts category of Building Futures.

This Farnham charity this week welcomed our Thames Valley sales director Rachel Faulkner and managing director Ian Beal to say thank you for their £100,000 prize winnings.

Through 1-2-1 care, working outdoors teaching animal care and horticulture, Change of Scene (CoS) aims to give excluded and struggling young people a route back into education. By the time they are referred to CoS, most are struggling with anxiety, poor mental health and have become accustomed to failure. Outdoor work improves self-esteem, confidence and gives these young people a chance to succeed.

Andrea Parr from the charity said: “We were delighted to receive the amazing news that we had won £100,000. Thank you so much, this money will make a huge difference to the charity and the vulnerable young people in our community. And thank you to all of our supporters for voting for us.”

Persimmon has handed out more than £1 million in cash prizes to organisations across England, Scotland and Wales as part of the campaign. The prize winners were decided by a public vote and around 200,000 votes were cast.

Three finalists were each awarded the top prize of £100,000, three the second prize of £50,000 and three the third prize of £20,000. The remaining finalists were handed £5,000 each.

See the full list of winners here.