EcoStyle 'Dragon' judges Make Your Mark Challenge 2009

EcoStyle director Simon Hall recently sat on a 'Dragon's Den' panel to judge pitches by budding young entrepreneurs from Lea Manor High School as part of Global Entrepreneurship Week.

The Business Start & Go Team at the Marsh Farm Community Development Trust hosted the Make Your Mark Challenge 2009 where 16 students from the school were asked to come up with a winning business idea based on a low-carbon theme and inspired by local needs.

Ideas put forward included an eco-friendly farm, a BMX track with other facilities and an Eco Dome. The students were asked to take their competitors into account and the costs involved. They then had to pitch their idea to three local judges.

The scoring was extremely close, but in the end the judges chose 'Impact' as the winning team. Team members, Muhammed Hamidi, Jane Goodhew, Rhys McCallion and Enock Ansuaa presented an idea called 'Dynamo Energy' - a bike that harnesses energy as you pedal. The energy can then be used at home or work to power other devices, therefore, saving energy and reducing the carbon footprint

Simon Hall from EcoStyle, one of the judges, was delighted with the excellent ideas from all the team. He said 'We were very impressed with the standard of the ideas which were extremely well thought through. It made picking a winner very tough.' Other judges were Tony Jules from Marsh Farm Outreach and Marcia Newman, Youth Project Co-ordinator at the Marsh Farm Community Development Trust.

Richard Gottfried, Business Start & Go Project Director, said 'I was very impressed that the students came up with some great business ideas in such a short space of time. One of the judges couldn't believe that the groups had only been working on the plans since that morning, he thought it had been a term-long project.'

To learn more about the Make Your Mark Challenge, visit the Global Enterprise Week website

To learn about Marsh Farm Community Development Trust's activities, please visit www.mfcdt.co.uk