Hats off to bright sparks (From The Advertiser Series)

Hats off to bright sparks

12:04pm Wednesday 8th July 2009

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A BUSINESS idea with a social conscience has been named winner of the second Bannatyne’s Bright Sparks contest.

Judges, who included multi-millionaire entrepreneur Duncan Bannatyne, awarded pupils from Darlington Education Village the £1,000 prize for their idea to create tailor-made wildlife gardens for companies. The pupils, who make bird boxes and other furniture for the gardens on site, are using profits from the venture to fund a sensory garden for special needs pupils at the village.

In the Dragon’s Den-style competition, pupils from nine schools had to pitch their ideas to judges, who included Prof Caroline MacDonald, of Teesside University, Alan Noble, executive director of Northgate, and Mike Lakinski, business development manager for Business and Enterprise North East.

The competition, which aims to develop pupils’ communication and decision-making skills, was the culmination of months of work by the pupils, who were given support from Alpha Radio on their presentation style.

Peter Barron, editor of The Northern Echo, who presented the results evening, said: “This is a fantastic event and I hope it goes from strength to strength.

“I think we should all take our hats off to the young people who worked so hard on their presentations and got up on stage tonight.

“It takes a lot of courage – I certainly couldn’t have done it when I was their age – so well done to everyone.”

Dame Dela Smith, executive director and principal of the Education Village, said: “We are very proud of the entrepreneurial skills of our students and their success in this event.”

The teams taking part were: Hurworth House School, supported by HSBC, in Darlington: Wilson Kneeshaw, Oliver Whitchurch, Jack Wright, Jacob Hesmondhalgh, Lawrence Walker, Sam Thoma, Robert Ellwood and Alex Pickersgill; Darlington Education Village, supported by Sherwoods in Darlington: Ben Braithwaite, Angus McNiff, Reece Smith, Conor Davies, Danielle Stollery, Andrew Wilson and Daniel Pearson; Carmel RC College, supported by Brian Coates and Company: Josephene Humphrey, Libby McCollom, Tim Jasper and Caroline Lumsdon; Hurworth School Maths and Computing College, supported by Cummins Engine Company in Darlington: Claire Shiels, Andrew Lowis, Dan McGee, Nathaniel Ventress, Byran Sewell, Simon Walton, Sarah Parsons, and George Ward; Hummersknott School and Language College, supported by Barclays Bank in Darlington: Ben Million, James Carbert, Jess Johnson, Liam Innis, Hannah Morris, Harriet Miller, Lily Thompson, Elijah Taylor, Cara MacDougall, Becca Wilson and Allie Jennings; Eastbourne C of E Academy, supported by the Thermal Insulation Contractors Association: Daniel Clark, Robbie Blaser, Abbigail Johnson, Michelle Williams, Joanne Hamilton and Oliver Christer; Branksome Comprehensive School, supported by Orange in Darlington: Shuhi Akhtar, Shamea Begum, Jessica Campion, Lucy Mullen, Samantha Jones, Peter Weigold, William Newcomb and Liam Scott; Longfield School, supported by Barclays Bank in Darlington: Noor Fatima, Grace Airey, Emma Kemp, Fatima Begum, Liam Winter and Matthew Brown; Polam Hall School, supported by Barclays Bank, in Darlington: Grace Coxon, Alexandra Craggs, Faith Fawcett, Giulia Giovagnoli, Emily Purvis, Jordanna Smith, Sarah Hall, Kristina McConnell, Megan Williams and Joanna Stabler.

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