Dacorum Dragon’s Apprentice Challenge
This year we are proud to be supporting the Dacorum Dragon’s Apprentice Challenge, where 15 teams of local students raise money for charities. The Challenge pairs teams of Year 12 students with local business people (their Dragon) and each team is then matched with a local charity or community group. They are tasked with developing business strategies and delivering their ideas to turn £100 of seed capital into £1,000 or more, with all profit generated going directly to the team’s charity.
Lydia is the Dragon for a team from JFK School in Hemel Hempstead, and we are raising money for DENS which houses, supports and empowers vulnerable single homeless people, and others in crisis, to transform their lives.
They are raising money by running the tuck shop at school, setting up a quiz night and also by selling baubles to decorate a Christmas tree in the Marlowes Shopping Centre, if you would like to support the students and their Christmas appeal, you can donate using this link.
Find out more about DENS Charity here.
Read the Dacorum article:
15 teams of local students take up the Dragons’ Apprentice Challenge to earn money for charities.
25th September 2024: Fifteen teams of students from schools in Dacorum and beyond will be putting their entrepreneurial skills to the test as young Apprentices in the Connect Dacorum Dragons’ Apprentice Challenge in a bid to raise money for charity.
The Challenge pairs teams of Year 12 students with local business people (a Dragon) and each team is then matched with a local charity or community group. They are then tasked with developing business strategies and delivering their ideas to turn £100 of seed capital into £1,000 or more, with all profit generated going directly to the team’s charity. This year, Dragons come from a variety of businesses which include companies such as.
At the launch on Wednesday 25th September, held at John F Kennedy School, Connect Dacorum Manager, Cindy Withey, matched the teams with a Dragon and with the charities and community groups that each team will support. The Apprentices then spent time getting to know about the work and objectives of the charities and community groups and were introduced to their Dragon. Over the next few months the teams will work closely with their Dragons to devise business based projects to raise money and awareness for their charities. With guidance from their Dragons, the teams will learn about entrepreneurship, managing a business, communications, finance, organisation and other job related skills, all of which will be of positive and practical value in the next stage of their education and development.
The teams can win awards for the most money earned, most innovative product/service or business idea, best example of close co-operation between team and charity, best presentation and best display panel. After the final reports have been judged by a panel of Super Dragons, teams will be shortlisted to deliver a presentation at the awards event at in April 2025, in a bid to become the overall winner of the 2024/25 Challenge.
727 pupils have taken part in the challenge over the past 11 years and have raised just over £124,000 for local charities. Cindy Withey, project leader of the Dacorum Challenge said, “We’re overwhelmed with the interest and excitement that the Challenge generates each year and I’m excited to see what the teams develop over the next 5 months and look forward to our Awards Evening.”
Residents and businesses based in Dacorum, Harpenden and Watford should look out for and support the teams in their various activities. Projects might include running stalls at the various Christmas markets, hosting dinners in local restaurants, organising musical events and quiz nights and making and selling refreshments at local fairs. Teams this year are:
