We caught up with four students who represented the University of Birmingham at the Enactus National Finals In London City Centre in on 8 April.
Timi (pictured), Catherine, Daphne and Owen talked about the social enterprise projects they have been working on and answered questions to a panel of judges for a chance to represent the UK in the Enactus World Cup in California (in September 2019).
What is Enactus? Enactus stands for Entrepreneurial Action for Us – and encourage students to get involved with social action and volunteer projects. Enactus website.
Hi, I’m Daphne, Vice-President of Enactus Birmingham.
Enactus is a global organisation of students, academics and business leaders,
whose ethos is to use entrepreneurial action to create a better world for us
all. I joined Enactus because I am motivated by the idea of helping others and
was drawn to the ethos of the society.
a passionate and dedicated team who believe in improving the world around us. We
work closely with the Careers Network team, Enactus UK and corporate partners which
this year included Capgemini, Amey and AIG.
committee is made up of myself, I’m a final year Maths student; Catherine (the
President), a final year Business student; Timi, a final year Law and
International Relations student and Owen, an
Engineering masters student.
and exciting new opportunities in our local community…
The Harmony Project
Loneliness in theelderly community is a serious issue. Age UK report that, shockingly, for 40%
of elderly people TV is their main source of company. Loneliness leads to social
isolation and lack of stimulation, which is detrimental to wellbeing. Music is
proven to trigger emotional memories, bringing people together and enhancing quality
of life.
the elderly. As I am passionate about this issue, I volunteered to lead the
project.
deliver fortnightly sing-alongs in Bournebrook Care Home, Selly Oak. The
sessions have been a great success and the residents have really enjoyed them.
homes and to other vulnerable groups. For example, the charity Sense works with
individuals with complex disabilities and believes that no one should be
isolated or unable to fulfil their potential. We plan to deliver our sessions
as part of Sense’s arts and wellbeing programme to help improve the quality of
life of these individuals.
more centred around technology, coding is a highly important skill.
CodeWrite, which delivered coding lessons to year 9 students at St Edwards school.
The classes were a great success, so much so that one of the IT teachers used
the idea to start up his own ‘code club’ at the school.
girls attended. Therefore, this year’s CodeWrite leaders, Timi and Owen, worked
hard to increase female engagement in the programme.
acknowledged that STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics)
careers are male dominated. The Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) Campaign
reports that in 2018, the percentage of women in ‘STEM occupations’ was only
22% and in ‘IT professional occupations’ only 16%.
school in an economically deprived area of Birmingham. So far, we have
delivered several lunchtime sessions with a group of year 9 girls. The girls
created magazine covers using HTML and Python and commented that it was ‘nice
to go beyond the curriculum using coding levels that professionals use’.
careers, we plan to organise talks by women in STEM careers, about their work.
their projects in Regional and National competitions. We are delighted that
this year we were selected to progress through to the National Competition,
which takes place at the ExCel in London.
next years team can continue to grow and develop these projects and others, enhancing
Enactus Birmingham as a centre for entrepreneurial community action at our
university.
*Add news idea possibilities here such as sustainability, food banks etc *
* Start-up / entrepreneurial like running your own business, employers , development etc*
With thanks to Daphne Martin.