News

Enterprising employees turn music into to money for charity

(21 June 2006)

Participants on a unique entrepreneurs course at Durham Business School gave their employers a keen insight into their enterprise abilities when it came to raising money to help families affected by cancer in County Durham. Nine students from companies throughout County Durham have completed the Business School’s ‘Key Employee Programme’ – the first of its type in the UK.

Activities are based around business game techniques developed by the Business School to encourage students to think creatively to solve problems and develop new entrepreneurial skills. With an initial budget of £20, the group came up with the entertaining idea of hosting two live music gigs where the proceeds raised would go to their chosen charity, The Durham and Wearside branch of Macmillan Cancer Support. Using their newfound marketing skills, the charity gigs, which were held in Consett and Coxhoe, featured local bands playing rock and pop sold out. And the group has completed the programme on a ‘high note’ after raising over £2000 for the charity. Elvira Soria, fundraising manager for Durham and Wearside Macmillan Cancer Support, was delighted by the team’s generosity and apparent flair for fundraising. She said: “I’d like to congratulate the group on their success and thank them for supporting such a worthy cause, every penny really does help. “At Macmillan Cancer Support we provide practical, medical, emotional and financial support for cancer patients and their families and the money the group raised will go directly towards helping to improve the lives of people affected by cancer in Durham.” The Small Enterprise Development Team at Durham Business School developed the ‘Key Employee Programme’, which is a five-day course part-funded by the County Durham Economic Partnership and One NorthEast. It aims to unlock and develop the entrepreneurial potential of key staff working within the region’s SMEs and equip them with new job skills and confidence. Students on the programme came from a variety of jobs, including a warehouse supervisor for an agricultural supplier to a sales assistant in jewellers. Susan Hawley, a student on the Key Employee Programme and a supervisor at Cox Agriculture Ltd in Stanley for eight years, said: “The whole experience has been very rewarding, the team put a lot of time and effort into organising and promoting the charity nights and we were all delighted by their success. “The Key Employee programme has taught me a whole new approach to problem solving, different communication techniques and how to generate new ideas and a fresh approach to the day-to-day business of managing a busy warehouse.” Employers also stand to benefit from the course. Staff will be better motivated and bring a range of new skills into the workplace which company owners will be able to tap into for their own competitive advantage. Jeremy Wright and Rachel Orange head up the Key Employee Programme. Jeremy said: “This is the second programme we’ve run and it has been a huge success. “It’s highlighted the wealth of entrepreneurial ability within the region’s SMEs and enabled people at all levels to tap into their potential and improve their personal and professional skills. “Employers will also see tangible benefits and recognise the value of a fresh approach to work that the course offers staff.”