AN AUTHOR and education consultant from Abersychan has won a national photography competition by demonstrating how her business has been affected by coronavirus.
Rachel Cully was chosen from more than 200 entries from all over the UK in the PopUp Business School Summer Photo Challenge - which showcased through pictures how businesses have been faring during the coronavirus crisis.
Her business, Cully Education, was working with schools to improve literacy and numeracy. But when funding for her programme was cut, she decided to launch a new project.
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Mrs Cully's idea was to help children understand maths through storytelling and set up DigiTales4Maths.
"I really enjoyed creating the photograph and thinking about how my business had changed during lockdown,” she said.
"Like many entrepreneurs, Covid-19 had a devastating effect on my business but the strange circumstances also gave me the opportunity to explore taking my business online and get feedback from customers.
“I am looking forward to launching DigiTales4Maths, which uses the power of digital storytelling to develop confident mathematicians who love maths.
“It will be great to work in school settings again and the addition of my online Teacher Academy to the programme will really enhance the experience for the schools involved."
Rachel Cully. Picture: PopUp Business School
This new project follows on from her latest book in her Talac Gang series, How to be a Covid-19 Superhero, which was launched digitally over lockdown. It featured a group of dragons who help children use maths to help answer some of the frequently asked questions from the pandemic.
The judges loved Rachel’s picture because it told a story about her business, showed humour, was well created and had charm, said Simon Paine, CEO of the PopUp Business School.
“The more I looked at the picture, the more I liked it and, when I learned more of Rachel’s story, I thought it was brilliant what she’s done,” he said.
“Life in lockdown has been tough for businesses and we are really impressed by those entrepreneurs, such as Rachel, who have suffered the blows, brushed themselves off and found a new way of doing things.”
Mrs Cully received £200 for winning the competition.
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