Enterprising TIGHS pupils turn business ideas into charity fundraising
Cancer patients in Lancashire are to benefit from state-of-the-art robotic surgical equipment thanks to the fundraising efforts of enterprising Year 10 pupils at TIGHS.
The girls used our annual Enterprise Week to set up retail businesses that would donate all their profits to the Rosemere Cancer Foundation, based in Preston. A staggering £5,309 was raised by our Year 10 pupils, from an initial investment of £700 from the school.
12 teams of up to 10 pupils competed against one another to raise the most money. They each used an initial investment of £50 to start their businesses. Over the next four days this start-up sum increased dramatically as pupils developed and sold their wares – ranging from tempting cake jars, American candy and mocktails, to stylish wall art and candles.
Year 10 pupil Sumayya dressed up to give Team Formation’s sweet treat sales a boost
At the start of Enterprise Week pupils received briefings in how to run a business, before planning team roles and writing job descriptions. Team members interviewed one another to match each girl to the right role, including marketing, finance and quality control positions.
In order to inspire the students and spark ideas for their enterprises, a number of local business leaders came into school to address the Year 10 pupils. These included Abdul Chohan, an Apple Designated Educator, and Siddiq Musa, a KPMG partner.
Each team then wrote business plans setting out how they would make their profits, and even had to pitch to a Dragons’ Den style panel to earn more investment.
At the end of Enterprise Week, pupils wrote company reports and presented to a judging panel made up of the school’s Enterprise Advisor Kay Vaughn of Inspira, and Daniel Hill, Head of Fundraising at Rosemere Cancer Foundation.
Bashira Patel, our Director of Futures, co-ordinated the Enterprise Week activities. She said, “Our Enterprise Week was an all-round fantastic experience for our pupils. They fully embraced the fundraising challenge, and we were fortunate to have a strong line-up of guest speakers who really inspired them.
“Our pupils were enthusiastic and confident throughout the week’s activities, and developed a range of skills such as problem-solving, communication, entrepreneurship and managing budgets.
“It’s wonderful that we were able to raise such a large sum for a very deserving charity through the activity too.”
Team Spectrum tempted shoppers with American candy to increase their fundraising
On the final day of the Enterprise Week challenge, pupils from all year groups, together with parents and school staff, were invited to shop at stalls selling the teams’ products.
Year 10 pupil Shaziya Ali commented, “Enterprise Week was a unique learning experience and so much fun!
“We received a profound insight into the business world through inspirational guest speakers who are successful business men and women in our local community. It was particularly thought-provoking to hear their stories and to realise and recognise that many entrepreneurs have humble beginnings and the sky is our limit if we put our mind to things.
“We loved the opportunity to start our own business from scratch and see it through to a flourishing, profit-making business at the trade fair and are very proud of the donations we raised collectively as a year group for a wonderful and most worthy cause.”
All teams raised money for local charity Rosemere Cancer Foundation.
Daniel Hill, Rosemere Cancer Foundation’s Head of Fundraising, was invited into TIGHS as a guest judge in the Dragons’ Den challenge. Daniel commented, “It was an honour and pleasure to play a small part in what was a wonderful exercise. I was extremely impressed by the girls’ effort, determination and passion to succeed and raise as much money as possible for Rosemere.
“We are truly grateful for TIGHS’ support. The money raised will make a huge difference to local cancer patients for many years to come by helping to ensure the latest generation DaVinci Xi robot stays at the Rosemere Cancer Centre at Royal Preston Hospital.
“Each and every group had obviously worked extremely hard and it was difficult to choose one stand out winner, as they were all winners in my eyes.”
Team Sterling were the winners in TIGHS’ Enterprise Week competition – left to right are Farheen, Fariha, Aisha, Aaliyah, Shaziya, Hana, Sabeen, Huma and Zainab
From all 12 teams taking part in Enterprise Week, Sterling was crowned the winner. Judges Daniel Hill of Rosemere Cancer Foundation and Kay Vaughan of Inspira commented on the originality and creativity of the team’s products, accuracy of their financial forecast, innovative use of ICT and the team’s panache when delivering their final presentation.
Added By: Tauheedul Girls | Date Added: 18th Jul 2017 | Posted In: Latest News