A year after it gave Bedfordshire primary schools the chance to win an animatronic T-Rex experience, Giant Journeys is celebrating its first birthday with another giveaway.
The educational experiences company is celebrating its first anniversary in business in the same way that it started – by giving back to the Bedfordshire community it serves and launching a giveaway for local schools.
Giant Journeys, which provides immersive workshops for children, has worked with more than 18,000 pupils nationwide during its first year in business.
Founder Darren Smith launched Giant Journeys in 2025 by opening a public vote on social media in which Bedfordshire primary schools were able put themselves forward to meet Reggie – a five-metre-long animatronic T-Rex – in a special informative session on dinosaurs.
Scott Primary School in Bedford was among the first schools to meet Reggie.
Headteacher, Anita Barker, said: “Our children absolutely loved the visit from Reggie the Dino and his friends.
“They were completely enthralled seeing the dinosaurs come to life right before their eyes. It was an exciting, educational, and truly enriching experience they still talk about to this day.”
To mark its first big milestone, Giant Journeys is running a similar contest, in which Bedfordshire schools win an experience to meet Trixie the baby T-Rex as well as her much bigger brother, Reggie.
The dinosaur workshop is one of 13 immersive experiences that Giant Journeys is able to offer. Four of the unique sessions are based around artificial intelligence in which the children have to solve a quest by visiting digital environments and speaking to avatars, including a WW1 soldier, a Stone Age child, an Egyptian slave and a Roman Gladiator.
“The last year has been a whirlwind of learning for both the children in our workshops and for me as an entrepreneur and founder of the company,” said Darren.
“I am incredibly proud of all that we have achieved in our first year and the opportunities that we offer to inspire and educate young minds by bringing history, science, and more to life using cutting-edge technologies like Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR).
“Our journeys are exactly that, an exploration into a different world, and we believe that these experiences are unique to Giant Journeys.”
“There’s plenty of time for local primary schools to put themselves forward and be in with a chance of winning a meet and greet with Reggie and Trixie”
You can place a vote here. Voting closes on Saturday, 28 March and winners will be announced shortly afterwards.
