United Kingdom National Competition Highlights

• April 24, 2015
• By: Tona Rowett

Wonder what happened at this year’s Enactus UK National Competition? All you have to do is search for #EnactusUKNationals – which had a reach of nearly 900,000 on Twitter over the two days of the event – and your stream will be filled with pictures, quotes and highlights from the event, giving you a play by play of the exciting competition.

Making it easy to follow along, the UK team created a live social feed on their website, where supporters both at home and abroad could catch all of the social media messages in one place, a great tool for capturing and celebrating the positivity being shared online.

One of the highlights of the social feed was the entries for the #EnactusSelfie competition, which encouraged attendees to share a selfie of themselves at the event. We’re still waiting to hear who won – follow Enactus UK on Facebook and Twitter for the results!

The UK Alumni Association got in on the photo action this year with their #whyimhere campaign, which provided participants with a visual opportunity to share their passion for Enactus with the world. Images of them with their inspiring, handwritten words were then shared online.

Not only did attendees share messages and pictures about their personal experience, but the UK staff captured project highlights from every team presenting in each round. Projects like My Start from Enactus Royal Holloway that empowers single parents to start their own businesses and provide a better life for their families; and the University of Oxford’s BikeSico, which provided homeless individuals a second chance by teaching them how to start a bike repair business. Check out their Twitter feed to see the great work accomplished by all 40 competing teams.

Thanks to their partnership with Hodes, one of their sponsor companies, you can also experience the competition through a number of high quality videos, which you can find on the Enactus UK YouTube channel. In addition to interviews with sponsor company representatives, the videographers followed three teams throughout the opening round of competition to capture their reactions, observations and emotions.

In all, over 1,000 students, faculty members and business leaders came together at the Novotel, Hammersmith in London from 13-14 April to celebrate the entrepreneurial impact achieved this year. More than 300 executives had the difficult task of evaluating the impressive projects, and after three rounds of competition, the Enactus team from University of Southampton came out on top.

Judges were wowed by the team’s SANECO project, which enhances lives in Kisii, Kenya through innovative sanitary solutions. After learning of the challenges faced by Kisii residents, the team developed a comprehensive outreach program including designing toilets using recycled materials, providing sanitary towels made from locally sourced materials, and creating soap using avocado and banana peels. The villagers involved were taught to make and sell the products, providing them with an income to support their families, as well as being trained to teach others about health education, making a lasting impact on the entire community.

Other competition highlights included the career fair, which saw over 30 companies participate; and the project fair, where teams set up displays showcasing their work and allowing for unique discussions and information sharing. Showing the true spirit of celebration, a series of awards were handed out over the two days including the inaugural Jim Ineson Outstanding Contribution Award, named for the former Enactus UK leader and awarded to Jonny Hick, a dedicated alumnus.

Check out this flashback video for all the highlights from 2015 Enactus UK National Competition!