15 teams of local students take up the Dragons’ Apprentice Challenge to earn money for charities.

25^th September 2024: Fifteen teams of students from schools in Dacorum and beyond will be putting their entrepreneurial skills to the test as young Apprentices in the Connect Dacorum Dragons’ Apprentice Challenge in a bid to raise money for charity.

The Challenge pairs teams of Year 12 students with local business people (a Dragon) and each team is then matched with a local charity or community group.  They are then tasked with developing business strategies and delivering their ideas to turn £100 of seed capital into £1,000 or more, with all profit generated going directly to the team’s charity. This year, Dragons come from a variety of businesses which include companies such as.

At the launch on Wednesday 25^th September, held at John F Kennedy School, Connect Dacorum Manager, Cindy Withey, matched the teams with a Dragon and with the charities and community groups that each team will support. The Apprentices then spent time getting to know about the work and objectives of the charities and community groups and were introduced to their Dragon. Over the next few months the teams will work closely with their Dragons to devise business based projects to raise money and awareness for their charities. With guidance from their Dragons, the teams will learn about entrepreneurship, managing a business, communications, finance, organisation and other job related skills, all of which will be of positive and practical value in the next stage of their education and development.

The teams can win awards for the most money earned, most innovative product/service or business idea, best example of close co-operation between team and charity, best presentation and best display panel. After the final reports have been judged by a panel of Super Dragons, teams will be shortlisted to deliver a presentation at the awards event at in April 2025, in a bid to become the overall winner of the 2024/25 Challenge.

727 pupils have taken part in the challenge over the past 11 years and have raised just over £124,000 for local charities.  Cindy Withey, project leader of the Dacorum Challenge said, “We’re overwhelmed with the interest and excitement that the Challenge generates each year and I’m excited to see what the teams develop over the next 5 months and look forward to our Awards Evening.”

Residents and businesses based in Dacorum, Harpended and Watford should look out for and support the teams in their various activities. Projects might include running stalls at the various Christmas markets, hosting dinners in local restaurants, organising musical events and quiz nights and making and selling refreshments at local fairs.  Teams this year are:

School                                     Dragon                                      Charity

Adeyfield                                 Peter Ashman                        Hospice of St Francis  

Hemel School                        Raj Athwal-Browne              Community Action Dacorum

John F Kennedy                   Coffee & Wine                       The Pepper Foundation          

John F Kennedy                   Cardo Group                           Dacorum Heritage Trust        

John F Kennedy                   Creative Stripes                    DENS

John F Kennedy                    Insite                                       Dacorum Mencap

Longdean                                Huldra Recruitment            Waterways Experiences        

Tring                                        Dacorum Borough Council      Herts Young Homeless           

Sir John Lawes                      Redway HR                              The OLLIE Foundation            

Sir John Lawes                      Twenty Two                            Blue Tangerine

Sir John Lawes                      Always Wright Mortgages      Gaddesden RDA

St Michaels                             Clock                                       W3RT

Katherine Warington          Turtle Mortgages                    Forever Young People

Katherine Warington           Perdact                                    Comfort Cases

Katherine Warington           Wild Goose                              Communities 1st