Liverpool academy wins twice at GDST LEAD Showcase

The Belvedere Academy is delighted to announce it has won twice at the Girls’ Day School Trust (GDST) Leadership Enterprise Advanced Diploma (LEAD) Showcase.

In the GDST LEAD programme, Belvedere students were tasked with setting up an entrepreneurial initiative, conceiving a sustainable product or service, with proceeds going to their chosen charity.

Along the way, they accessed entrepreneurship tools including podcasts, audio series and bootcamps, guidance and check-ins with London School of Economics (LSE) Generate mentors, as well as virtual speed networking sessions with GDST alumnae.

The Belvedere team this year was very much community-led and set up a business called ‘CareCrown’. The business has aimed to provide care packages and self-care advice to refugees across the city of Liverpool.

Over the last few months, they have managed to distribute hundreds of products to refugees in need through donations, fundraising and building up valuable links with local and international businesses such as ‘Lush’.

The students have learnt valuable lessons in distribution, packaging and carrying out sustainable practices as a business.

Project manager Eve O’Sullivan commented on how the project has taught the team some valuable lessons, saying: “Seeing first-hand how desperate some of the people coming to the city are for care packages only further inspired us to make sure we could meet their needs.

“We quickly realised we had a gap in the market at ‘CareCrown’ and we needed to ensure we could grow the business quickly using our extensive business relationships and connections we had made.

“The Belvedere community has been fantastic in raising donations and it has been a real community lead effort.”

The Belvedere team took on over 220 GDST students across the country at the London School of Economics for the GDST Lead Showcase and walked away with two prizes – for ‘Most Innovative Idea’ and ‘The People’s Choice’ awards.

The judges said they were ‘blown away’ by the inspiring business proposal and commented on their impressive business connections they managed to make. As part of the innovation award, they have won an internship day at LSE Generate – led by experienced entrepreneurs where they will further craft their business knowledge.

Staff are very proud of the Belvedere team and look forward to seeing their business further grow into the wider community.