Sodexo works with international charity to reach young entrepreneurs

Sodexo is partnering with Enactus UK, a social enterprise and educational charity which works with students to encourage the next generation of entrepreneurial leaders and social innovators.

Sodexo works with international charity to reach young entrepreneurs

Each year, Enactus in 36 countries works with 72,000 students across the world to create programmes and competitions that help them to develop their leadership skills. Its work has become world-renowned among both academic and business communities, helping to develop the next generation of leaders at university through experiential learning.

 

Mental health support

Sodexo has established a partnership with Enactus UK to support students’ employability and encourage their entrepreneurship alongside making a social impact.

Sodexo’s programme with Enactus UK will see student enterprise teams from some of the country’s leading universities compete in projects focused on a theme developed by the company in conjunction with Enactus UK.

With the wellbeing of students a priority area for Sodexo, particularly considering the new pressures and challenges that come with starting university, the first project in the programme will focus on mental health support.

Teams of students have developed concepts to create real-life social enterprises on this theme, and Sodexo has selected three to be implemented.

The teams will present their progress to a panel of Enactus and Sodexo judges next month, and the winning project will be entered into the Enactus UK national competition in London in April 2019.

 

Business advisors

Another element of the partnership will see a team of Sodexo business advisors supporting Enactus across the UK. They will visit their local universities and offer mentoring and advice students as they approach graduation and enter the commercial world. 

Tom Laskey, sales & marketing director, schools and universities, Sodexo UK & Ireland said:

We are really excited to be entering into partnership with Enactus UK. Our shared focus of entrepreneurship, investing in local communities and making an impact on the quality of life challenges that schools and universities face like mental illness means Enactus is a natural partner for Sodexo. 

“Our teams’ close contact with the student community, who often have moved away from home for the first time, means that we are highly aware of the mental health support needed by today’s young people. We are proud to support students as they develop social enterprises that can promote mental wellbeing, while our roles as business advisors mean we can provide students with expertise and leadership as they transition into the workforce.”

Andrew Bacon OBE, CEO of Enactus UK, said: “The Enactus programme challenges our young future socially responsible leaders to partner with local communities and partners to identify real needs and deliver real impact."

We are really pleased to be working with Sodexo on such an important challenge of how to develop interventions to improve wellbeing and better support mental health.