The hard work and business skills of over 120 sixth-form students were recognised at the Young Social Entrepreneur of the Year awards held today at the Alan Shearer Activity Centre.
Teams from 14 schools and sixth form colleges across the region were each given £250 seed money last September and worked for six months to return a profit using their imagination and entrepreneurial talents.
Alan Shearer awarded prizes to the winning teams at the celebratory event, which was sponsored by renewable energy company Siemens, and was delighted to announce that in total the teams have raised £17,700 for his Foundation. Alan said: “This is a tremendous sum and it’s wonderful to know that every penny will go towards the Foundation’s overall target in helping to provide free and subsidised respite care at the Alan Shearer Short Break Centre.”
The year’s overall winning team, Vision from St Thomas More Catholic School in Blaydon, returned a profit of £6,541.73 earning them the winner’s trophy and a tour of the Siemens facilities in Walker. Ignition, also from St Thomas More, took second place with a £2,509.70 profit, while in third place were The Entrepreneurs from St Mary’s RC Comprehensive in Newcastle who achieved a £1,921.51 profit.