Buy one, donate one: RBVE to produce solar‑powered heated blankets to support people facing homelessness.
A solar-powered heated blanket designed by a Glasgow school pupil is set to move into wider production with Royal British Veterans Enterprise (RBVE) – a national charity creating jobs, providing homes and building communities for veterans and people with disabilities.
The solar blankets will be assembled and dispatched by veterans and people with disabilities working in RBVE’s social enterprise factories. Each sale strengthens these employment opportunities and enables an additional blanket to be donated to homeless charities.
A schoolgirl’s idea to help people sleeping rough
Rebecca Young, now 14, first designed the blanket as part of Primary Engineer’s annual ‘If you were an engineer, what would you?’ competition, which attracted more than 70,000 entries nationwide. Her concept, a heated blanket powered by solar panels, was inspired by seeing people sleeping rough on the streets of Glasgow.
Each year, Primary Engineer’s university and industry partners choose one shortlisted entry to prototype. A team of engineers at Thales in the UK developed Rebecca’s design into a working prototype and manufactured an initial batch of blankets.
The prototype won a Silver Medal at the Primary Engineer MacRobert Medal in 2024. The Medal, created in collaboration with The MacRobert Trust, celebrates the achievements of school pupils, students and young engineers who work together to create innovative, real‑world prototypes. Rebecca was later named one of TIME Magazine’s Girls of the Year 2025 in recognition of the project’s impact.
Engineers bring the design to life
Thales in the UK has an established social value partnership with RBVE and is a Dunkirk Partner Sponsor of the 2026 Great Tommy Sleep Out. Through this relationship, Thales has supported RBVE’s employability and skills programmes, including providing cyber mentoring for RBVE employees undertaking cyber degree apprenticeships, in‑person work experience at Thales’ Glasgow office for a veteran studying in the field, and ongoing support for RBVE’s Lifeworks programme for veterans and military families. This partnership brought Thales and Rebecca together with RBVE to take the project forward.
Veterans to deliver the blankets at scale
RBVE will deliver the blankets through its social enterprise operations in Kent. The charity also has factories in Erskine, Scotland and Leatherhead, Surrey which contribute £2.4 million in social value through disability employment to the UK economy each year. More than 70% of its employees are veterans, living with disabilities, or both.
The announcement comes as RBVE’s annual nationwide campaign, The Great Tommy Sleep Out, gets underway this month. Participants spend a night outdoors in support of veterans facing homelessness across the UK. Funds raised through the campaign support RBVE’s housing and employment programmes across the UK.
Buy one, donate one
RBVE has committed to a buy-one-donate-one model, pledging to donate one blanket to homelessness charities for every unit purchased. The Financial Times has estimated that one in every 200 households in the UK is experiencing homelessness.
Lisa Farmer, Chief Executive of RBVE, said:
“Rebecca’s initiative shows how practical innovation can respond to a real need. We are proud that veterans and people with disabilities in our social enterprises will now manufacture these solar blankets at scale to help tackle the homelessness crisis in the UK.
“At RBVE, we create jobs, provide homes and build communities for veterans and people with disabilities. For many of our employees, homelessness has been part of their journey. This project reflects our long-standing commitment to support this community, and delivering more of Rebecca’s solar blankets will ensure many homelessness charities can continue providing their vital services.”
Phil Siveter, CEO of Thales in the UK, said:
“Rebecca’s design is a brilliant example of what happens when young people are given the space to apply engineering thinking to real problems. Our engineers were proud to help bring her idea to life as a working prototype, and we are delighted that, through our partnership with RBVE, it will now be manufactured at scale and reach the people who need it most. This is exactly the kind of collaboration that shows what technology employers can contribute beyond their core business, and we look forward to supporting RBVE’s vital work further.”
Rebecca Young, inventor of the solar blankets, said:
“When I saw people sleeping outside, I wanted to design something that could help. I never imagined it would go this far. It’s amazing to see my invention being produced on a wider scale and I’m so pleased it will benefit so many people.”