ReBourne | Only UK All-Girl FRC Team & Outreach

Aim

Launch the UK’s only all-girl FRC team, inspiring 29 young engineers and reaching 2,000 primary pupils through STEM outreach.

Launch the UK’s Only All-Girl FRC Team - to Europe and Beyond

Back ReBourne Robotics #11717

29 Sixth Form students. One pioneering robotics team. 2,000 primary pupils to be reached this year. See our webpage here: www.rebournerobotics.uk

Help us launch ReBourne Robotics #11717 - the UK’s only all-girl FIRST Robotics Competition team, the only FRC team in South West England, and the only UK state-school FRC team - onto the international stage.

ReBourne is grows from BSG Robotics - one of the most successful all-girl robotics and engineering programmes in the UK, based at Bournemouth School for Girls.

In Spring 2027, our students will travel to Eindhoven to compete at the inaugural Western European FRC Regional, representing Bournemouth, Dorset and South West England alongside teams from across Europe and beyond.

But we are building far more than a robot.

We are building engineers, leaders and role models - and using their experience to create STEM opportunities for thousands of younger children.

Why is ReBourne pioneering?

FIRST Robotics Competition is still extremely rare in the UK.

Only three UK teams competed in FRC in 2026.

ReBourne is now creating something genuinely new:

• The UK’s only all-girl FRC team
• The only FRC team in South West England
• The only UK state-school FRC team

29 young women taking on advanced engineering and international competition

Just a few months ago, this programme did not exist.

Now Team #11717 is preparing to represent our region in Europe.

What is FIRST Robotics Competition?

FIRST Robotics Competition - FRC - is one of the world’s most ambitious school-age engineering programmes.

Every January, teams receive a completely new challenge.

Students then have to design, manufacture, wire, programme, test and operate an industrial-sized competition robot capable of completing complex tasks in a fast-paced arena.

Think less ‘school robotics club’ and more ‘student engineering company’.

Our students work across mechanical engineering, CAD, manufacturing, electronics, programming, autonomous systems, computer vision, strategy, project management, communications and partnerships.

They have to solve real engineering problems, work to deadlines, iterate when things fail, communicate technical decisions and operate as one team.

Learn more about FIRST Robotics Competition

Why does this matter?

Girls remain underrepresented across many areas of engineering, computing and technology.

The students will build large semi-automonous machines under time pressure from January to March to compete with and against other nations in the spring.

We can tell girls that engineering is for them. Or we can give them the tools, responsibility and opportunity to prove it.

At ReBourne, our students are not watching somebody else build a robot. They are the engineers.

They are not simply attending careers talks. They are working alongside engineers, universities and technology companies.

They are not being told that girls belong in technical environments. They are preparing to walk onto an international robotics field and demonstrate it.

For our students, ReBourne creates a bridge between school and future careers in engineering and technology.

Team 11717 receiving a talk from local industry this term

They develop technical knowledge, but also the skills that modern industry needs: problem-solving, teamwork, communication, resilience, leadership, systems thinking and project management.

From South West England to Europe

In 2027, Team #11717 will travel to Eindhoven to compete at the inaugural Western European FRC Regional.

They will compete alongside established robotics teams from countries across Europe and beyond.

Our students will travel not simply as competitors, but as young ambassadors for South West England’s future engineering and technology workforce.

They will represent girls in engineering, state-school STEM education, Bournemouth and Dorset, South West England, and a new generation of young people entering engineering and technology.

They will return with technical knowledge, international connections, confidence and experience that can be shared with younger students across our region.

And then we bring it home

The competition team is only one part of the ReBourne story.

Our wider outreach programme, ReBourne Futures (see our here for more info), is designed to make sure the opportunities created through FRC reach far beyond our own students.

This year alone, we aim to provide STEM outreach to 2,000 primary school pupils.

We've already had a programme to reach 6000+ students in the last few years - we now aim to reach a further 8000 primary students in the next four years!

Our students will use robotics, coding and engineering to inspire younger children, mentor teams and support schools across Bournemouth, Dorset and the wider South Coast.

This builds on a BSG Robotics programme that has already reached thousands of young people and supported schools across the region.

Discover ReBourne Futures

Our impact at a glance in Year 1

• 29 BSG Sixth Form Students developing advanced engineering, programming and leadership skills.
• 2,000 primary pupils receiving STEM outreach through ReBourne Futures this year.
• 30+ secondary schools supported through the wider BSG Robotics programme in our region.
• 1 pioneering FRC team - Representing South West England on the international stage.

What will your support make possible?

• Provide STEM outreach to 2,000 primary school pupils this year through ReBourne Futures
• Build and sustain the only FRC programme in South West England
• Support the UK’s only all-girl FRC team
• Give 29 girls access to advanced engineering and international competition
• Purchase motors, electronics, sensors, mechanisms and materials for our competition robot
• Provide tools, batteries, safety equipment and essential spare components
• Develop a professional mobile competition pit and engineering workspace
• Prepare Team #11717 to compete internationally in Eindhoven
• Build equipment, knowledge and infrastructure that future generations of students can inherit
• Enable our students to mentor younger pupils and become visible female STEM role models

Every pound therefore has a double impact.

It gives our 29 students extraordinary engineering opportunities now - while helping them create opportunities for thousands of younger children.

We are building a pathway

ReBourne grows from BSG Robotics, our all-girl robotics programme at Bournemouth School for Girls - and the largest all-girl robotics club in the UK.

Students can now progress through a genuine robotics pathway:

FIRST LEGO League → FIRST Tech Challenge → FIRST Robotics Competition

They can begin with their first experience of coding and robotics and progress towards designing and operating an industrial-scale competition robot.

That pathway also creates something increasingly important: younger girls can see older girls doing engineering.

Our youngest students see sixth form students designing mechanisms, writing autonomous code, leading teams, working with industry and competing internationally.

Those sixth form students then become mentors and role models for the next generation.

Explore the full BSG Robotics programme

The 11717 Challenge

Our FIRST team number is:

#11717

So our fundraising target is:

£11,717

£1 → £11 → £117 → £1,171 → £11,717

Every person who supports this Crowdfunder becomes part of the founding story of Team #11717.

There will only ever be one rookie season.

We would love you to be part of it.

What happens if we raise more?

Our ambition does not end at £11,717.

Any additional funding will be reinvested into:

• expanding ReBourne Futures outreach
• reaching more schools and young people
• reducing barriers to student participation
• additional engineering equipment and robot components
• training and development for future students
• making the FRC programme sustainable for future generations

Our goal is not to fund one robot.

Our goal is to establish something that lasts.

Help us build something extraordinary

Now 29 girls are preparing to represent South West England on an international engineering stage.

And through ReBourne Futures, they will use that opportunity to inspire thousands more.

• We are building more than a robot.
• We are building engineers.
• We are building leaders.
• We are building role models.
• We are building opportunities.
• We are building the pathway for the girls who come next.

BACK 11717

BUILD. CONTROL. IMPACT.

Help launch the UK’s only all-girl FRC team - to Europe and beyond.

Funding method

Keep what you raise – this project will receive all pledges made by 30th November 2026 at 12:00pm