A society that has shown nothing but success and innovation over the last few years, winning various awards and gaining much deserved sponsorship and support from many renowned companies is SIFE or Students In Free Enterprise. It is an international organisation, where teams in universities establish different projects looking to help those in need, both on a local and international scale. For all students involved in SIFE and its many projects, hard work is rewarded with training by business advisors and SIFE UK, great socials, networking events and, of course, the opportunity to really help make a difference to people’s lives. This week we have found out more by speaking to the president of SIFE Leeds, Louis Wilkinson.
HC: Tell us about what course you do, and what year of study you’re in?
LW:I’m a third year Managing Performance student, which isn’t managing people’s performance, its managing performers!
HC: How did you get involved in SIFE?
LW:I heard about SIFE in a lecture in first year and having been involved in Young Enterprise at school and taking into consideration how much I enjoyed that, I thought I’d give it a go.
HC:What does your role as president of SIFE entail?
LW:Looking after my team, dealing with any issues and trying to ensure all projects are up and running for the year. Something we are really keen on doing at the moment is recruiting new members!
HC: What projects are you involved in at the moment?
LW:Personally, I’m currently involved in a project called SHEEP (Student Home Energy Efficiency Program) which last year managed to save students on average of £200 over the year on their utility bills, as well as over 15% on their CO2 emissions. We help students implement really simple tasks around their house that maybe they hadn’t considered. SHEEP is sponsored by RWE npower, and has reached the finals for their ‘Future Leaders Challenge’. The winning team gets to go to the Arctic Circle! SIFE also runs projects working with homeless people, young offenders, NEETs (not in education, employment or training), school children and many others – so there is something for everyone.
HC: What is the most interesting project you have been involved in during your time with SIFE?
LW:That’s a tricky question as we have so many great projects, but I would say my most rewarding project to date would have to be ‘Mushroom for Improvement’ (we do love a good pun at SIFE Leeds!). This project took us out to Ghana to work with two communities in the Brong-Ahafo region. The communities are heavily reliant on mining, where members of the community with disabilities, as well as women and the elderly, struggle to find work, forcing them to live below the poverty line. We helped them to set up two mushroom farms. Mushrooms are a delicacy in Ghana and they are easy and labour-free to grow. With any SIFE project, we have to ensure that the project is sustainable when we leave. To ensure this, we taught the farmers business skills so they had the required knowledge to successfully run their farms. Their farms are flourishing and we have also helped them to set up a community pot for health care funds. The women involved in this project have really benefitted, as it has given them their own enterprise and as such has helped them to climb up the social ladder in a heavily male-lead society.
HC: What advice can you give to anyone wanting to get involved in SIFE?
LW:It’s very easy to become part of SIFE Leeds; all you have to do is email me! We have several exciting projects for you to join and the benefits are endless, especially if you are looking for jobs after Uni; it’s not what you know it’s who you know!
HC: What do you hope to do after you graduate?
LW:Through my SIFE contacts I have been fast tracked on several graduate schemes, so hopefully I shall be walking into a job with one of SIFE‘s many sponsor companies.
HC: Tell us your best experience whilst being at Leeds Uni over the last 3 years.
LW:It would have to be last year’s National Competition for SIFE. SIFE Leeds has always considered itself to be ‘small but mighty’, but it was our success at last year’s nationals that really proved that. Having previously only ever made it to the semi-finals, we were thrilled to make it through to the finals where we were ranked fourth in the country. We won most improved as well as the volunteering award. Not only that, but we were presenting to hundreds of people as well as 60 CEO’s of major companies. We got the opportunity to showcase our work, as well as give our CV’s to all sponsor companies. It was an amazing experience (followed by an awesome night out!) and I’m really looking forward to next year’s competition.
HC:Thanks Louise! Well, if this has impressed you as much as it has us, visit www.sifeleeds.co.uk for more information on projects or email Louise at Sifeleeds@hotmail.co.uk.