‘Giving back’ is good for the soul

Today (13th March) was the local heats for the 2011-2012 Young Enterprise scheme. After a good few months of working with one of the local schools (St. Edwards School, Poole), it came down to the day of judgement.

If the company makes it through to the next stage, then fantastic, but more importantly there is the focus of giving something back to the local community.

The Young Enterprise is the UKs biggest business and educational charity. As a business there is the opportunity to work alongside a selected local school/college and advise and support a group of students who bring a ‘real life’ product to the market and then use the various channels to promote, sell and grow.

From a business perspective, it’s not just a case of putting aside time each week, it’s much deeper than that.

• This backs up our belief of you have to ‘give before you receive’ in this world. There is that sense of achievement when you see a team of students working together and growing in confidence as individuals and as a group.
• It is a rewarding feeling to support the local community you work within. If you have your own business and you’re part of the local economy, this represents a true sense of the word ‘contribution.’ This could potentially be the future workforce for your industry and providing assistance and a ‘real world’ view is vital.
• You can make a difference. Seeing the team (and all the other local schools/colleges) present this afternoon, there would have been a development in self confidence, team work and a sense of a common goal. These are people who draw on limited life experience, so support and direction when it comes to certain decisions is valuable.
• Investment in the future. If you believe in your own business and your area of expertise, then investment of time and energy in youth (or people who will represent tomorrows’ business world) is vital, in term of imparting knowledge and expertise. Otherwise how will they learn? If you have the opportunity to pass on what you’ve learnt, do it!

If you are thinking about involvement and contributing what you’ve learnt over the years, then Young Enterprise is a worthwhile investment of time, it does make you feel rewarded and what’s wrong with a pat-on-the-back, from time to time.

By the way, if you want to have a look at the Benefice (that’s the St. Edwards School team name) product (called ‘Fresha’) have a look at the video clip below.