King's students to represent the UK at international enterprise World Cup

Students from Enactus KCL, the student society for social entrepreneurship, have beaten off competition from 57 universities to represent the UK at the Enactus World Cup.

The Enactus World Cup is the world’s leading international social enterprise competition, and this year will be hosted in London at the ExCel Centre 26-28 September.

The event will bring together 3,500 student, business and academic leaders from 36 countries to showcase the work they have done to improve the lives of others, and compete to be crowned Enactus World champion 2017.

Enactus KCL will present their project Light Mountain- a clean cookstove and fuel solution initiative in rural Tanzania. The project reduces indoor air pollution, saves money and empowers local women through a cooperative. The project has already improved the lives of 400 people, upskilled local craftsmen and allowed families to save money to send their children to school. The team have invested more than 1784 hours in the project and at the National final won support from Ford, Tesco and EY.

In the run up to the competition, the team showcased their pitch at an exclusive event at the Shard. The event, introduced by Lord Michael Hastings, was hosted by Jellyfish with an audience of leading business representatives and sponsors including Coca Cola, Amazon, KPMG, British Airways, Tesco, Diageo, Accenture and was covered by The Big Issue.

Renad Sheraif, 2016-2017 Enactus KCL President and winner of the Enactus Student Leader Award said;

“I'm really excited about the World Cup and being able to represent the UK and King's on a world stage. Years of work have gone into this and it'll be really exciting to showcase all the work King's has put in and to show that we've been making a difference at home and abroad.”

Rebecca Willey, King’s Enactus university Advisor said;

“It is a fantastic achievement for Enactus KCL to be presenting at the Enactus World Cup. This event allows them to showcase their amazing social enterprise helping rural communities in Tanzania and shows how King’s students really are making the world a better place. We are all very proud of the King’s students who take part in Enactus and wish them the best of luck with the competition.”

Clara Zourray, Project Leader of Light Mountain and winner of the Entrepreneurship Institute’s Idea Factory Social Impact Award said;

“I can’t say how much my journey with Enactus has enriched my experience at King’s. I have been able to take a leadership position and develop my problem-solving skills. I can now pride myself by saying I have done something meaningful that has a tangible impact on a global health issue I care about."

To support Enactus KCL in their impressive achievement, King’s students and staff can register to attend the World Cup free at https://apps.enactus.org/WorldCupAcademicRegistration/Login2.aspx

NOTES TO EDITORS 

• Enactus KCL came second in the National finals but winners Southampton were required to withdraw their place from the World Cup
  
  
• Enactus are an international non-profit that believes investing in students who take ENTrepreneurial ACTion for others creates a better world for US all. Working is 36 countries, they have a community of academic and business leaders working with 69,000 students across 1,700 university programmes. The World Cup celebrates the diversity of culture, abundance of ideas and synergy of cross-generational leadership.
  
  
• Enactus KCL are supported by King’s Entrepreneurship Institute’s Entrepreneurship Support Fund.