25th September 2009

Barnardo’s tests the brains of the hungriest hopefuls in the Birmingham business community, 25th September 2009 Three teams from Edenhouse Solutions battled it out in a “The Apprentice” style challenge to see who could come up with the best business venture and run it for a day to raise funds for Barnardo’s Safe and Sound Appeal.  The company that is an SAP partner and specialises in SAP support, enhancement and implementation found themselves at a local Barnardo’s service first thing on Friday morning, where they were briefed in a Sir-Alan-Sugar-style meeting on what their task would be.

The teams found themselves thinking creatively and drawing on all their skills and talents as they drew up business plans and considered the risks of their ventures before each went out in Birmingham City Centre to deliver their fantastic services.  One team’s persuasive skills helped secure a donation of shoe polish and brushes from Timpsons, enabling them to provide a shoe-shining service to professionals out during their lunch break.

On a lovely warm day that drew thousands of visitors into Birmingham City Centre, another opportunistic team proved their negotiation ability as they persuaded a market trader to give them 18 punnets of strawberries for only £7.  Served with cream, these proved a real hit to the many passersby.  Alongside the strawberries, this team also targeted offices, offering to do the lunch run in return for a donation.

In the evening, an awards ceremony was held to reward staff for their efforts, but the real winners are the vulnerable children and young people that will benefit from the £1,235 raised by the teams.  Barnardo’s Safe and Sound Appeal is raising funds for their services in Birmingham that provide counselling for hundreds of children and young people every year who have been sexually abused, as well as running preventative programmes to reduce the number of children at risk of abuse and exploitation.

Paul McCudden, Operations Director at Edenhouse Solutions commented “This challenge really took our staff out of their comfort zones, and we were absolutely delighted to see them developing new skills and thinking so innovatively.  The challenge also brought our team closer together and has boosted the confidence and talents of individual members.  We had an enjoyable day whist at the same time raising funds for an incredibly worthwhile cause.”

If your company would like to take on a Barnardo’s challenge to help children in your local area or to find out more about how you can help visit www.barnardos.org.uk