On 8th December 2010 seven Envision Teams from around London pitched their ideas for social or environmental projects to a panel of top business and community leaders. The teams had the chance of winning up to £500 to extend or broaden the scale of their community projects.
Each Team had just 10 minutes to pitch and a further 10 minutes to answer questions from the panel.
The panel of business dragons were;
- Ashvin Seetulsingh, Solictor, Clifford Chance
- Rupert Jones, Head of European Research, Morgan Stanley
- Pierre Anson-Tsang, Programme Manager, EDF Energy
- Jocelyn Wilkinson, Burberry
- Katarina Williams, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
- Daniel Lowe, Graduate of Envision schools programme
The seven Envisions School Teams that pitched their projects were:
Central Foundation Boys’ School, Islington
This team plans to create a music and T-shirt campaign to challenge the negative stereotype of young people. They will create their own brand image and create music CDs to sell and raise awareness. Money raised will go back into the project enabling other young people to be part of it.
Update: The panel loved the teams T-shirt designs and awarded them £500 on the condition that they fulfilled a number of requirements listed by the Dragons, including setting out a target for their fundraising and establishing the values of their campaign.
Highgate School, Haringey
The team want to address the inequalities in the education sector in London by redistributing unused educational resources to disadvantaged schools in London. They hope to secure books, computers, software, and music and sports equipment and provide schools that have little or no means of obtaining such materials themselves.
Update: The Dragons were very impressed by Highgates ambitious project and awarded them a first payment of £105 with the offer of further funding once the team finalise the second and third phase of their project.
Our Lady’s Convent High School, Hackney
As well as creating a short film to raise awareness of the effect of imprisonment on whole families, this team has been working with PACT, a charity working with women in prison. They plan to use the Pitch 4 Change money along with ongoing fundraising to renovate and collect toys to create a children’s play area in the new Wandsworth site, making the experience less stressful for prisoners’ families.
Update: The panel were impressed by the way the girls had approached such a senstive issue and awarded them £494.23 on the condition that they continue to work closely with prison charity PACT and their school.
St Martin in the Fields High School, Lambeth
This team is planning to organise a conference about Children’s Rights that will come up with a number of recommendations to take to government. Supported by Morgan Stanley, they will ask to hold the conference at the Morgan Stanley offices and invite sixth form students from across London using the Envision networks. They will use the money to advertise and raise awareness of the issue and create educational materials that each student attending the conference can take away.
Update: The solid pitch that the St Martins team delivered not only won them the full £250 that they had requested but also the support of Director General of the Dept for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in sourcing speakers for their conference.
Clapton Girls’ Technology College, Hackney
Clapton Girls’ project will improve the image of Hackney by campaigning and promoting the Borough, and also by leading positive activities within the community including painting a community wall and creating a community garden.
Update: The Clapton girls were commended for their creative approach to improving their local area and received the full £500 they had requested.
La Retraite Girls’ School, Lambeth
This team want to raise awareness of domestic violence, particularly among young people by educating people about how they can help and also by helping them understand the consequences. They will do this by working in partnership with a domestic violence charity to create a film and set up a peer mentoring scheme in their school to help young people find support.
Update: The Dragons congratulated the girls on tackling a very sensitive issue and awarded them £150 to host their awareness event. A further £350 was banked to enable the team to continue developing their plans and widen the impact of their campaign.
Preston Manor School, Brent
This group of students will address the issue of homelessness, focusing on the effects that recent funding cuts will have on vulnerable people. They will use the Pitch 4 Change money to fund the making of a short film and aim to interview a wide variety of charities working with those that are affected. The team would like to raise awareness of the issue across North London and will use the rest of their money to distribute the film to as many schools and colleges as possible.
Update: The panel congratulated the team for their professional delivery and awarded them £234 to create and distribute their film which would challenge people's perceptions of homelessness and raise awarness amongst their peers.
Pitch 4 Change took place on 8th December at Clifford Chance Office in Canary Wharf. If you'd likefurther information about Pitch 4 Chanage please contact rommel@envision.org.uk or call 020 7253 1677
