“Business Heroes”: entrepreneurial students raise cash for Haiti

We’ve come across a great initiative, the ‘Saving the Children – Business Heroes’ campaign, which gives students the chance to test their business skills by coming up with the idea that raises the highest amount of money for the charity.

Launched through Bright Futures, the national student organisation, all of the money raised will go to support Save the Children’s work in Haiti.

The idea for Business Heroes was conceived by Zella King from Henley Business School, and Simon Reichwald, a director at Bright Futures Society.

“As a university lecturer, I’m always looking for ways to help students become more employable,” King tells Real Business. “Business Heroes stemmed from my desire to do something for Save the Children, combining student employability and fundraising.”

In exchange for raising money, the most promising projects will receive up to £500 in seed funding from corporate sponsors, as well as the support of a professional mentor who will help them to scale up their idea.

“We are delighted to harness some of the UK’s brightest undergraduate talent to raise money for this hugely worthwhile and innovative event,” says Reichwald.

The campaign has already received the support of Mumsnet.com, the parenting website. Justine Roberts, the entrepreneur who founded the site, says: “Business Heroes is a brilliant initiative to get the most entrepreneurial and innovative young minds of Britain raising money to rebuild Haiti. Some really exciting projects have already been put forward, and I’m looking forward to seeing how the competition unfolds.”

As well as the £500 seed funding, students can win the opportunity of a three-month internship with Save the Children.

We look forward to hearing about the winners!

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