Two Bournemouth teenagers have won national honours for their eco friendly business venture.
The students from Avonbourne College have scooped the ‘best group’ and ‘social impact’ awards in the nationwide search for Britain’s brightest young entrepreneurs in the Tenner Challenge.
Georgia Brooker and Danni Cotterill, both year 10 students, formed their own social enterprise company using £10 they each borrowed from the competition.
With £20 they grew their own business called ‘Corgreen’ selling Fair Trade goods and raising money for the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).
Their efforts not only attracted a £500 endorsement from the Co-op but they were also able to sell 50 Corgreen bags containing a range of fair-trade treats to Bournemouth Borough Council.
Throughout May they set up stall at school and raised a total of £700.
Tenner Challenge judges said of their award-winning efforts: ““We were very impressed with the two big external contracts as well as the good use of marketing using both the web and blogs.
“This was a good social enterprise model using an environmentally friendly product that helped draw attention to social issues such as obesity and fair trade.”
This is the third year in a row Avonbourne has scored success in this prestigious national competition but it is the first time the school has scooped two awards in the same year.
Avonbourne College’s executive headteacher, Debbie Godfrey-Phaure, said: “We’re fantastically proud of Georgia and Danni for receiving this well deserved national recognition.
“They have demonstrated that excellent entrepreneurial skills can be combined with ethical and green goals.”
The girls went to London yesterday (Monday July 1) for a glittering award ceremony at Kensington Town Hall to collect their awards.
They also spent time at Pimlico Plumbers HQ – plumbers to the celebrities – to see a successful business at work.
Danni said: “We were overjoyed to win two first prizes – we never expected this at all.
“It’s given a great taste for starting up a business and we’re very keen to carry on what we have started.”
The girls created the concept of Corgreen after taking part in a project at school about animal adoption packages.
After hearing about how many endangered species there were in the world, the girls were determined to do their bit to help.
They also wanted to support the school’s bid to become an official Fair Trade college.
