At Mercia Learning Trust’s 2026 staff conference, Our Trust in the Future, we were proud to showcase outstanding creative work from pupils across our schools through our Sheffield Inspires competition.
This project linked directly to the citywide Sheffield Inspires initiative, which recently received a global award for Place Brand of the Year. Our trust is proud that the work we did with Marketing Sheffield, including the pupil competition and conference showcase, contributed to this success.
Working with Marketing Sheffield, we invited pupils to respond creatively to the theme ‘What Sheffield Means to Me’. They could enter anything from artwork to poetry, dance, spoken word, film or mixed media. We received many imaginative and heartfelt entries from across our schools.
The judging panel featured Mark Mobbs, who lead the Sheffield Inspires project, and renowned local poet Sile Sibanda. They shortlisted around fifteen pieces for the conference presentation, including paintings, choreography, poetry, personal reflections and creative interpretations of the seven Sheffield Inspires themes.
The showcase was a standout moment for staff. Many were moved by the pride and imagination shown by our pupils, and by the way they expressed a strong sense of belonging and identity linked to their city.
Our connection to the Sheffield Inspires movement has continued to grow. In February, our CEO Neil Miley spoke at the Sheffield Inspires celebration event, highlighting the importance of including children’s voices in conversations about the future of their city. He also spoke about the need to celebrate their ideas and creativity as part of shaping the Sheffield of tomorrow.
Now that the conference is complete, our trust continues to work with Marketing Sheffield to find creative ways to share the pupils’ work more widely. We look forward to showcasing their creativity across the city and connecting their ideas with a wider audience.
We would like to thank every pupil who entered. Your creativity was exceptional, and your contributions have become part of a citywide story that is now recognised internationally.
Find out more about Sheffield Inspires here.