PROSPECT Hospice have been working business students at Swindon College to kick start the hospice’s £10 challenge in a bid to boost their fundraising.

The level 3 year 1 students were asked to team up and make a profit on £10 and to explore what it’s like to start a business. They will be in charge of coming up with ideas for their business, marketing their products or services and trying to raise as much money as possible for Prospect Hospice.

All profits from the challenge will be donated back to Prospect Hospice so they can continue supporting local people and their families through end of life care.

Andrew Paterson, lecturer in business, IT and finance organised the session so that the students have a chance to experience some real life situations and also raise some money for the worthy cause.

He said: “I am really looking forward to seeing the groups develop the ideas, market them and be successful in the challenge.”

Amy Francombe, community fundraiser from Prospect Hospice led the session for the students and gave them an insight to the service that Prospect Hospice provides and the type of people they help. She also gave them ideas on how they can add value to their initial £10 investment and ways in which they can grow their money and businesses.

Swindon College invited local professionals to attend the work shop to aid the students and their ideas, giving personal insight to their businesses and the hurdles they may face.

Malcolm Davies, a trademark attorney who runs Berry Davies, an intellectual property consultancy with his business partner Steve Berry, talked about his experience in the industry with the students and how important it is to harness the resources that are readily available to them.

He said: “When I started out, I needed a store or a shop-face to run my business. Without a physical outlet to sell my services/goods I wouldn’t have been able to build my business. You all have phones and laptops, this means you have a marketplace, and you should use it.

“The students had some really innovative interesting ideas and I am excited to see the outcomes from these. It’s great to see that the college is putting real life situations into practice and exposing students to the issues and obstacles they may face.”

Emma Faramarz, director of Datalibrium and Emnico Enterprises and Rob Moody, business and sales mentor also attended to offer their guidance and support to the students.

After initially discussing their ideas, each team explored ways in which they could market their start-up. Everything from celebrity endorsements to social media strategy was discussed, giving an insight to the options they will have to consider when starting a real business.

The students will be launching their businesses to the public on March 19 at Blunsdon Market, where each team will have a stall, and members of the general public will be able to buy their products or services.