The four-week initiative which this year became part of Deloitte’s new Social Innovation Pioneers programme, is designed to support and grow the country’s social enterprises. It challenges teams to generate as much money as possible throughout November starting with just £1 in seed funding. All profits from the challenge are used to fund micro-loans in developing world and provide entrepreneurship and leadership training in the UK. To date,participating teams have raised over £120,000 in investment capital, funding micro-loans in 24 countries on four continents.
Mick Jackson, founder of WildHearts charity and creator of the Micro-Tyco initiative, said: “Micro-Tyco unites everyone in our community, from our children to our corporate executives with that vision; that business can and must be a force for good. By associating business success with compassion we will inspire the leaders our world deserves.”
Micro-Tyco 2012 will pit hundreds of teams from the country’s top businesses, universities, colleges, primary and secondary schools against one another on a level playing field. In recent years many of the school teams have recorded huge returns on the initial £1 investment, such as St Joseph’s primary school, Aberdeen, which generated a profit of over £9,000 in 2011, meaning businesses already signed up to participate have more than a little reason to be nervous.
More than 550 teams took part in Micro-Tyco 2011, including companies such as Deloitte, Enterprise Rent A Car and theTownhouse Collection. Deloitte won last year’s challenge, raising more than £19,000, but not without some fierce competition.
Paul Copland, audit director at Deloitte and 2011 Micro-Tyco team leader, said: “We really had to watch our backs last year several primary schools ran us really close throughout the four week challenge. There is nothing like a troop of Brownies snapping at your heels to get the team motivated.”
Owing to Micro-Tyco’s proven success as both an educational tool for schools and universities as well as an entrepreneurial training programme for businesses, it is now being taught as a ‘Live Case Study’ at Boston’s Babson College, the world’s top school for entrepreneurship, and is being incorporated into the business courses at a number of Scotland’s universities including RGU and UWS.
A number of the country’s largest businesses have already signed up for Micro-Tyco 2012, including IBM, Citigroup, Pinsent Masons and Wood Group PSN, signalling a highly contested challenge in November as companies compete not just with schools, but also with rival organisations.
Micro-Tyco 2012 has launch events across the UK, and on October 1st is coming to Walsall and the West Midlands. If you want to hear more about how you can get involved we invite you to attend the launch at Walsall College, Wisemore Campus, Littleton Street West, 18:30pm. Confirm your attendance with delegate names to: info@wildheartsinaction.org
For more information visit: www.wildheartsinaction.org/microtyco
