Liverpool Meets Voltage! - 2007/08
In July 2008 the Voltage team took a group of school pupils from Lancashire on a trip to Liverpool, to help them become the social entrepreneurs of the future.
Voltage is run by the Lancaster University Volunteering Unit and funded by v, the youth volunteering charity. Voltage aims to inspire young people to create and develop their own social enterprise business ideas.
Sixth Formers from Blackpool & the Fylde College and Heysham High were taken to Liverpool and challenged to develop business ideas that could be of real benefit to the community. The trip followed on from a term of activity where pupils ran their own social enterprises in their schools. They sold products and organised events for their friends, teachers and family, raising plenty of money for local charities and community projects.
The trip consisted of a two day residential, where pupils worked alongside University students to further develop their own business ideas and make them realistic to run in their local community. The main focus of the trip was to hone the skills needed for pupils’ business ideas to become a reality, for example team work, leadership and entrepreneurial skills.
Some workshops took place at Liverpool’s School for Social Enterprise at Blackburne House, aiming to enhance pupils networking and communication skills. Pupils also met and worked with successful social entrepreneurs from within the Merseyside area. The UK charity ‘Speakers Bank’ provided the students with valuable techniques for public speaking and leadership.
The trip culminated in a “Dragon’s Den” style pitch to our very own selected panel of dragons. All teams used the skills they had developed over the two days to create superb and original pitches to sell their social enterprise to the dragons.
