Bury College to take part in Schools Innovation Challenge

Bury College will once again be taking in the Schools Innovation Challenge to help raise money for Bury Hospice.

The Schools Innovation Challenge sees students from schools and colleges from across Bury working in teams to fundraise for Bury Hospice, learning skills such as collaboration, time management, budget management, product design and marketing in the process.

The students are in the process of researching and planning now and will begin meeting with their business mentor to start fundraising in the new year. This is before a period of reflection alongside attending the awards ceremony towards the end of this academic year.

Caitlin Bindley, Lecturer in Business and Management at Bury College, said: “As staff supporting the challenge, we think it’s a brilliant way for our students to develop skills such as collaboration by working in teams and with a business mentor. They can also improve their confidence by presenting their ideas at the awards ceremony and resilience by overcoming any challenges along the way.  It is an excellent opportunity for students to showcase the range of skills they have learnt in the classroom whilst also supporting a brilliant charity close to the hearts of many students, staff and parents.”

Last year, students organised two car washes, a murder mystery-themed escape room and sold lanyard reels. You can read more about that here: https://burycollege.ac.uk/news/bury-college-students-raise-money-for-bury-hospice   

Rachel Krafft, Community Fundraiser at Bury Hospice, recently visited Bury College. She said: “We are delighted that Bury College have signed up to take part in our next Young Business Innovation Team Challenge, starting in January. The mentors will again provide their teams with an initial fund of £50 and will help them create and execute an innovative business plan over several weeks, using the £50 as a start-up investment. It is a fantastic team challenge which gives students the opportunity to show their business ideas whilst helping to raise vital funds for Bury Hospice.

“We were so impressed with how Bury College students successfully developed their business plan in our last apprentice-style challenge, which resulted in them winning the Best Promotional Video category. We can’t wait to see the innovative ideas from the new teams – and what makes it so rewarding is that they are helping to fund specialist care for local patients and their families when they need it most.”

Bury Hospice aims to help people fulfil their wishes during life-limiting illnesses, and they work hard to provide quality care whenever and wherever it is needed. Head to their website for more information: https://www.buryhospice.org.uk/about