On the 9th and 10th April, the top 32 Enactus teams from across the UK competed in the Enactus UK 2018 National Expo at the ExCeL, London. The dynamic, energy-filled event brought together 700 university students, 70 academics, and over 300 senior UK business leaders across two days in celebration of Youth Social Action and Social Enterprise.

Enactus teams competed over two days for the title of 2018 Enactus UK National Champion, showcasing their social and community projects to business executives serving as judges. The students were evaluated on how successfully they applied business concepts and an entrepreneurial approach to improve the quality of life of those in need. The final round judging panel comprised of 80 senior business leaders including Lord Dr. Michael Hastings of Scarisbrick, CBE, Global Head of Corporate Citizenship, KPMG International, Peter Holbrook, CEO of Social Enterprise UK and Professor Sarah Underwood, Chair of Enterprise Educators UK.

Enactus Edinburgh won the competition after showcasing three of their inspirational social enterprises; Aiding Change, which is providing solar powered hearing aids for those with hearing impediments in Ghana and, Lilypads/Sanitree, two sanitation enterprises which provide reusable sanitary pads for women and girls in Kenya and India.

Enterprise Educators UK sponsored the University Adviser summit and the University Adviser awards. The winners of the awards this year, recognised for their consistent and dedicated expert support to their teams were Kellie Forbes-Simpson of Northumbria University and Beka Willey of King’s College London.

Enactus Edinburgh will now go on to represent Enactus UK in the 2018 Enactus World Cup in Silicon Valley, USA in October this year.

Andrew Bacon OBE, CEO of Enactus UK was delighted with the success of the event. He said:

“Congratulations to the 2018 National Enactus Champion team from the University of Edinburgh and all of our 59 teams who delivered so much more social and community impact through their projects this year. Every stage of the competition was fiercely contested this year and that is down to the hard work of all involved in the programme be they the team members, the business advisers and volunteers or the support from the university and alumni mentors.”