Faith and Football update

At the beginning of term the five teams, of 23 Year 9 students, selected for the Faith and Football programme had their first meeting, and last Wednesday the official launch of the competition took place. Representatives from the charity in Portsmouth came to school to launch the competition, joined by Michael Scott, a local businessman who will take on the role of mentor for the girls throughout the project. This is the first time our school is offering the challenge and the 29 students who have successfully been selected to participate from our school are looking forward to starting the campaign, which promises to offer the girls a unique and enlightening experience.

To compete in the challenge the girls must create a company, consisting of four to six team members, and develop a business idea and plan that can be turned into a practical and real way of generating income. Enterprise skills such as teamwork, communication, problem solving, risk taking, sales and marketing will be honed together with financial and economic literacy. Each team will be supported by a Christian Business Mentor, who has a wealth of business experience and knowledge and will be able to provide individual support to the team.

All profits made from the companies will go towards supporting the work of Faith and Football, a Christian charity which works with professional footballers to promote the gospel through positive role models and community projects, in the UK as well as in India and Africa. The prize for the winning team is a trip to India, where the girls will be invited to participate in some of the work that the Faith and Football charity does there.

Between now and the middle of May the girls have to set up their companies, create their products, trade and record their experiences. The teams have already come up with some excellent product ideas and are working hard on raising the finances to purchase the required materials to make the products. The companies should be up and trading in the next couple of weeks – watch this space!