Eight of Northern Ireland’s leading companies have collectively raised an impressive £130,000 for The Prince’s Trust through its Million Makers Challenge to help turn around the lives of disadvantaged young people in Northern Ireland.
With initial seed funding from The Prince’s Trust, the eight finalists competed against each other to run the most profitable mini enterprise over the past six months.
Allstate, BNI, Hewlett Packard, Marks and Spencer, Northgate Managed Services, Parker Green International, Shredbank and Tughans undertook a wide range of activities including sales from a calendar featuring the Ulster Rugby Team, a white collar boxing event, sales of specially commissioned fine art and movie premieres to maximise profits to donate to the charity.
Allstate Northern Ireland raised an impressive £11,000 through a series of activities including publishing a yearbook, training sessions on android, dot net and six sigma and internal staff fundraising.
Speaking at the Final awards ceremony, Bro McFerran from Allstate said,
“After meeting two Young Ambassadors from the Prince’s Trust, our team was even more inspired to raise money as part of the Million Makers Challenge. We could see how the money raised makes such a difference to young people’s lives, particularly now when 1 in 5 young people under the age of 25 are unemployed.
“ This challenged our team to come up with some creative ideas to raise money and step out of their normal comfort zone and do something different, raising over £11,000 in four months. I would encourage other companies to sign up to the Million Makers Challenge in 2012 and make a difference in our community.”
The Hewlett Packard team Colin French, Katie Edwards, Michael Doherty, Lisa Gallen and Gillian Logan are pictured with Lucy Lewis (centre), of The Prince’s Trust.
Hewlett Packard raised an impressive £13,500 through commissioning two limited edition prints from acclaimed local artist, Neil Shawcross, selling to family, friends, clients and local galleries.
Speaking at the Final awards ceremony, Katie Edwards, Programme Manager with Hewlett Packard said,
“ We found the Million Makers Challenge exactly that - a challenge but in the best possible way! Everyone in the HP Belfast team stepped outside of their comfort zone; from writing a business plan and presenting, to selling and organising events.
“ There’s no doubt we developed our business, communication and team skills and learnt a lot about ourselves along the way. The rewarding part is that not only will we be able to use this experience going forward in our careers, but that the money we raised will make a real difference to disadvantaged young people here in Northern Ireland.”
Ian Jeffers, Director of The Prince’s Trust in Northern Ireland said,
“ This year’s Million Makers teams have shown an impressive amount of creativity and commitment to raise more than £130,000 in just six months for The Prince’s Trust. Not only have the team participants developed many transferable skills such as leadership, motivation and decision making, but the money raised will make a significant impact on the lives of many disadvantaged young people throughout Northern Ireland.”
