The Young Enterprise Companies have worked really hard this year to create products they were proud of and to spread their vision with others.

The company ONCE, made sleep masks and relaxation kits to help people get a better night’s sleep in order to improve wellbeing, while Hydrogen made unique soap bars, in order to raise awareness of different environmental issues.

Before Easter, both teams set up their stalls at the Worcester Spring Trade Fair where they had a chance to sell their products to the public. They made lots of sales and received great feedback from the public, which helped to make the cold day go by faster!

After the Trade Fair, they concentrated their efforts on writing their report and preparing for their four-minute presentation, which they were to present at the South Worcestershire Showcase Evening the last week before Easter. Unfortunately, as with many things, the Showcase Evening could not go ahead as planned due to Covid-19.

Instead, the girls recorded their presentations to submit to the judges, which brought on new challenges! The deadline was brought forward, members of the presentation team were being swapped out on an almost daily basis in the week running up to the recording (due to changes in flights), and we had to do the occasional re-taping, due to people stepping out of the camera frame! It also meant that we weren’t able to see the competition’s presentations or hear the results in live time.

Despite all the challenges, both teams were awarded prizes -  Once won the Creativity in Business Award, while Hydrogen was a Finalist.

Hydrogen then went on to the Herefordshire and Worcestershire County Finals, which once again was judged online and they won the Innovation Award.

Both teams should be really pleased with their progress and are hopefully looking forward to receiving their dividends when they return back to school!

A massive well done to everyone who has taken part this year.

Words by: Miss MacDonald