July 2024

We want to say a huge thank you to the King’s College School Wimbledon for recently completing our Social Entrepreneurs Project (SEP)! Their fourth form (year 10) students raised an incredible £2,700 to support our work with other young people across East Africa.

For those who aren’t familiar, we partner with schools through the SEP and ask their students to come up with enterprising business ideas. They are then given £10 of seed capital to put into action! The students make all of the commercial decisions; they design the business model, produce a marketing plan and keep financial records.

Over seven weeks, the 160 fourth form students at King’s were given £10 each and challenged to work in groups of 3-4 to make a profit to support our work.

King’s took on their first SEP way back in 2007. Over the duration of our partnership, the students have raised an unbelievable £95,000! Heading up their SEP this year was teacher Shelley Williams, who explains: “It is a fantastic opportunity for our pupils to work collaboratively on an enterprise project that improves their skills and has social impact.”

Here’s why the SEP could be the perfect tool to enrich your school’s curriculum.

An opportunity to develop business skills

The recent Durham Commission for Creativity and Education report highlights that the ability to think creatively is a required skill in any field, ranging from a ‘world-class physicist, psychologist or marketing expert’ and that ‘every child can be taught to be more creative, in potentially any subject and at any level.’

The SEP serves as a great way to practise many key business skills and presents students with new and exciting challenges. In order to raise as much money as possible, the SEP requires students to think outside the box, find a gap in the market, and develop a unique service or product to fill it using the seed capital given to them… and as always, the King’s students delivered!

One group designed and 3D printed their own lithophanes to sell to friends and family, creating unique and custom pieces of art that could be used as decorative covers for lamps and nightlights. They certainly found their niche and won an award for ‘Most Original Product’ in the closing ceremony of the SEP – raising £266!

Another group made the shrewd decision to diversify their portfolio. One student got busy baking and ran a bake sale, another put on a car boot sale, and the other two hosted a dinner party and sold second-hand clothes. As a group they managed to raise an amazing £255 from their original seed capital of £40 between them!

“The project allows them a taste of the complexities of business. Not just coming up with the idea, but the challenges of working with other people to implement and monetise those ideas – skills that will help them when they enter the world of work or possibly becoming entrepreneurs of the future.”

A space for students to flourish

It’s no secret that co-curricular activities are beneficial for students in their personal and academic development. In a recent article by the Scottish Council of Independent Schools, many of these advantages were outlined, such as “boosting self-esteem” by giving students the opportunity to achieve success outside of the classroom. All of this helps students to develop a deeper sense of self-belief, and co-curricular activities “can be seen as a key component of building mental resilience.”

Shelley highlights this: “One of the benefits of the SEP project is that it provides students with a practical opportunity to expand their knowledge beyond academic lessons. It allows them to grow and develop, acquiring skills that will benefit them in the future.”

By challenging students to work independently, the SEP helps develop many other practical skills, such as time and money management, communication, leadership and team-building skills. All of this results in an environment where students can really flourish and gain confidence in themselves and their abilities.

This year at King’s, one of those students was Hari (pictured above), who on top of being part of the group that produced the lithophanes and won ‘Most Original Product’, also won an individual award for entrepreneurship for his solo venture to run a café at the school Chess Club!

Hari explains: “Developing an idea and working with a to group achieve their idea was really rewarding, especially finding USPs which we could use to effectively market our product.”

The money raised makes a HUGE difference

The SEP is all about students seeing the world beyond the classroom and understanding the concept of charity. It is linked to our Vocational Training Programme, which trains young people who have dropped out of school to learn skills that can change their futures. Training in the likes of mechanics, tailoring, carpentry and hairdressing, graduates of the programme go on to either find a job or start their own enterprise.

A student participating in the SEP this year explained how this helped motivate them throughout the challenge: “I enjoyed trying to help other people by baking, since I enjoy baking. Using my skills  to help people was particularly fulfilling.”

Just to put it all into perspective, the money raised by King’s through this year’s SEP alone is enough for 17 young people to train with the programme and set them up with the tools for their future!

For Fatima, an 18-year-old from central Malawi, completing a tailoring course through the programme was the stepping stone to her own successful business.

Making and repairing clothes and school uniforms, she has many customers in her community and is earning a reliable income. Not only has her business boosted her standard of living, Fatima is committed to keeping her younger siblings in school and is paying for their fees and learning materials.

Dr Anne Cotton, the head at King’s, said:

“King’s is proud of its history of participation in the SEP project and its partnership with WeSeeHope. At King’s, education is focused on pupils’ adventure of learning and discovery both inside and outside the classroom. The SEP project offers a remarkable opportunity for our pupils to engage in a practical project that fosters teamwork, problem-solving, responsibility and ingenuity. By supporting this initiative, we not only enhance our students’ futures but contribute to the growth and development of young people beyond our walls.”

If your school is interested in taking on the SEP, or learning more, please get in touch with Bekah, our Events and Partnerships Manager, at Bekah@WeSeeHope.org.uk.

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