Enterprising business students from Northumbria University, Newcastle, have raised more than £3,400 for The Prince’s Trust through a range of entrepreneurial activities.
The teams, from Newcastle Business School’s Business Leadership and Corporate Management programme, were taking part in the Prince’s Trust Million Makers competition.
This is a national initiative challenging employees and university students to develop business ideas and activities which together aim to raise £1 million for The Prince’s Trust and make a real difference to the lives of disadvantaged young people.
Students taking part from Newcastle Business School attended an awards’ ceremony this week where they presented their business and fundraising ideas and received certificates from The Prince’s Trust.
The winning team, ‘Ignite’, raised almost £1,300 through their activity, called ‘Sweets Delivered’, which entailed a sweet delivery service to students living in halls of residence. They also ran sweet stalls at a local branch of Barclays Bank and team member Chantel Stevenson completed a sponsored solo skydive.
Newcastle Business School entered six teams into the competition. Money making activities included cushion sales at a local market, cake sales within the university and local business parks, football tournaments and even a sponsored silence.
Dr Jane Turner, Associate Dean Business & Engagement, Newcastle Business School, said: “We have a very strong and well established relationship with The Prince’s Trust so encouraging our students to take part in the ‘Million Makers’ challenge to help improve the lives of young people was something we were very keen to support.
“The opportunity to raise money through real entrepreneurial initiatives sits perfectly with our practice-based learning focus, which significantly enhances the student experience and promotes student employability. I congratulate all the teams that took part; they all demonstrated creative resilience, energy and business acumen.“
Zoe Mulvenna, fundraising manager at The Prince’s Trust said: “We’re delighted that the students at Northumbria University have taken on our Million Makers challenge. Their entrepreneurial ideas have helped to raise a huge amount of money, enabling us to support many more young people in the North East. Last year we supported over 4,000 disadvantaged young people in the region, with three in four moving into work, education or training.“
Million Makers teams pitch their business plans to a Dragons’Den style panel, in order to secure an initial investment from The Prince’s Trust.
Teams from companies and organisations across the UK then implement and promote their own mini enterprise. Aspiring Million Makers entrepreneurs must work together to turn seed funding into profit for The Prince’s Trust over the course of six months, competing against each other to run the most profitable mini enterprise.