Students use creativity to raise money for charity

Students from the University of Wolverhampton recently had the chance to showcase their creative side during an exhibition displaying their fundraising abilities.

‘The Students Exhibition of Applied Creativity’ was held at the University’s newly built Business School situated opposite the Molineux Stadium, and ran from 10:00am until 12:00pm.

The event was part of a second year core module titled, ‘Entrepreneurial Creativity and Innovation’ for students studying for a BA or HND in Business, Joint Degrees and BA’s in Sports, Hospitality and Events.

The aim of the project was to enable students to not only be able to write and talk about enterprise but to experience it for themselves, whilst getting the benefits of experiential learning.

In total there were around 50 stands displaying students fundraising activity, with two group prizes up for grabs – one for the most money raised sponsored by Fabweld Steel Products and the other for the most creative idea, sponsored by Trigpoint Coaching and Mentoring.

On the judging panel were staff involved with the module, who were in charge of assessing the student’s performance, and Professor John Thompson - Emeritus Professor of Entrepreneurship at the University of Huddersfield, who selected the creativity winners.

The prize for the most money raised went to a part-time group from Wolverhampton College who set a new record for most money collected by any individual group with their total funds of £3,291.

The award for most creative project went to ‘Art for Acorns’, a Business Management group in their second year, who sourced artwork from famous artists and galleries and then auctioned it to raise money for their charity.

Event attendees included Miceal Barden - Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences, Steve and Kirsty Bull and Jackie Carr from the Steve Bull Foundation, Sally Woods and Simon Cater from Compton Hospice, Abi Floyd from Acorn’s Children’s Hospice and Annette Negle from St Anthony’s LCD.

Deputy Vice Chancellor, Professor Ian Oakes also made a much welcomed appearance, excited to see so much hard-work and enthusiasm from everyone involved.

Charities benefiting from the fundraising work included the Steve Bull Foundation, Compton Hospice, Acorns Children’s Hospice and Midlands Air Ambulance.

In total, the exhibition raised £22,376, taking the donations raised by the enterprise of the students in the last 7 years to over £150,000.

Barry Whitehouse, Module Leader said: “Once again second year students have amazed the module staff with their efforts to raise £22,000 for local charities, there have been some outstanding performances by many groups who have had to pitch their ideas to the charity and then make them happen in little more than 6 weeks.

“This is a very real experience for the students and allows them to practice and gain a better understanding of their enterprise potential which we have helped them analyse on the first part of the module.

“They can be rightly proud of their achievements and the difference they have made for vulnerable groups in our community.”

ENDS

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Date Issued: Wednesday 4 May 2016