THE SIFE (Students In Free Enterprise) students at Swansea University went to the SIFE National competition last week, meeting business leaders and learning how to make themselves more desirable in the eyes of graduate employers, writes Jon May.
The team achieved a respectable semi-final place, ranking them within the top 16 teams in the country.
This success was further built on by winning the Bernard Hodes Annual Report award, which beat over 40 other universities and the team was presented with a trophy and the £1,000 prize money by the Chief Executive of the Bernard Hodes Group, Helen Rosethorn.
The projects aim to empower people to improve their own lives, through the “positive power of business.” The Friends of Bryn-y-mor project saw SIFE Swansea help the primary school raise over £7,000 to build a new toilet block.
In another project called Silver Surfers, the aim was to teach the elderly how to use computers to contact relatives, and the business angels project is a business consultancy where students enrolled onto the Entrepreneurship module come up with ways to improve local businesses and are awarded credits for doing so.
This year, the team empowered businesses and individuals to become £48,000 better off, improved the lives of 440 people and put in over 3,500 volunteer hours.
Ben Hanson, president of the society, was pleased with the triumph this year: “It was a fantastic achievement from hardworking and dedicated students.
“To reach the semi-final for the first time in the national competition and to win the first ever Bernard Hodes annual report award has put our university and team on the map.”
He is already planning for next year and said: “I look forward to my involvement in SIFE next year with high hopes of reaching the final!”
Southampton University won the competition and will represent the United Kingdom at the SIFE World Cup, in Washington D.C. this autumn. Sheffield University came in second place and Surrey and Nottingham were also finalists.
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