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The Enterprise Challenge with St Catherine's Hospice March 09
Three Crawley schools have shown their business skills in an Enterprise Challenge project which has raised nearly £2,500 for St Catherine’s Hospice in Crawley.
Teams from Holy Trinity School, Oriel High School and Manor Green College took part and were asked to be as enterprising and resourceful as possible to raise a target of at least £350 each for the local charity. They drew up business plans and marketing strategies and organised a variety of activities, including a school tuck shop, a show inspired by High School Musical and a pyjama run.
Several of the teams exceeded their target and the three top earners competed in front of a panel of judges from the Hospice, Varian Medical Systems UK and Barclays in March. Awards were presented in the following categories:
Most Original Fundraising Idea – won by the Punctual Pupils team from Manor Green College
Best Business Planning – won by the Doctors and Nurses team from Holy Trinity School
Best Pitch – won by the Here Come the Girls team from Holy Trinity School
Best Marketing Strategy – won by the Doctors and Nurses team from Holy Trinity School
Having raised the most money, the Doctors and Nurses team also won a grand tour of Varian, whose UK headquarters are based in Crawley.
Victoria Lawrence, St Catherine’s Community Fundraiser, said: “The money raised by these schools is a fantastic achievement, which will make a really positive difference to the care that St Catherine’s provides for local people. We were really impressed by the students’ enthusiasm and commitment, and the hard work that they put into fundraising over several months. They demonstrated excellent business skills and I’m sure we’ve uncovered some budding entrepreneurs of the future! Everyone at St Catherine’s would like to thank the students, and their teachers, families and friends for supporting this project and making it such a success. We’re also grateful for the support we received from the West Sussex Business Education Partnership.”
Madeleine Mills, Co-ordinator at the West Sussex Education Business Partnership, said: “This was a valuable real-life experience for the students as most of them will have not run businesses or participated in fundraising before. In the current economic climate it makes sense to offer students as much experience as possible so that they are better prepared for the real world of work.”