We were delighted to host the annual Primary Enterprise awards on behalf of the Alsager Community Trust. Pupils from local primary schools have once more competed in this well-established annual competition. The primary school pupils have raised over £1000 for a wide range of national and local charities by creating a range of products that were sold before the Christmas holidays.
The event was attended by over 60 students drawn from Cranberry Academy, Pikemere, Excalibur, Alsager Highfields and St Gabriel’s School. Each school had held its own internal competition, where all the year 5 children had been challenged to raise money for a good cause with just £5 of start-up capital. Each school had then sent two representative teams to the final.
The event was supported by three judges, Pauline Mallison and Wayne Calverley from Manchester Metropolitan University; and Jo Wright from Wright Letting and Management, a local entrepreneur whose company recently won the top prize in the British Property Awards for Crewe. One of our students supporting the final had been on the winning team from the previous year and another of the year 11 students commented: “It was so impressive to see what each of the groups have made and their confidence in speaking to an audience”.
Event organiser, Dr Middleton, commented: “Teaching children to see the future as something they can change is so important. It is great to see them working on such an innovative range of ideas. Enterprise is about taking risks and dreaming big. Our country and our part of South Cheshire needs the next generation of young people who will create the innovative jobs, opportunities and services for our future”.
Each team set up a market stall in the Hollinshead Hall, where they displayed the products they had made, and then gone on to sell within their own primary schools before Christmas. Jo Wright commented: “It was a delight to talk to each of the children and their enthusiasm was infectious as they spoke about their products. It was lovely to see the links with their own experiences and the way that they supported charities that had impacted on their own lives. I think it is important to love what you do and see how it has a positive impact not only on yourself but, on the lives of others”. All of the judges were impressed with the range of products they made and the way that each of the teams had turned their initial £5 investment into a healthy amount of money. Many teams had raised over £80 and some had beaten the £90 mark and they had selected their charities themselves.
This year’s winning team were called Retro Rudolphs from Excalibur Primary School, the Epic Elves from St Gabriel’s gained the shield for the best presentation.Additionally, Emily Wells, from Alsager Highfields, received a special recognition as she solely created and managed her enterprise, Chocolate Boxes.
