WildHearts Micro-Tyco Awards Ceremony

Ben Kelly, Bids Manager and Head of the Phoenix Charity Committee, travelled to London for the WildHearts Micro-Tyco Awards Ceremony

“Recently I went to the House of Commons for the WildHearts Micro-Tyco Awards Ceremony, celebrating Micro-Tyco and WildHearts Global Youth Ambassadors. Here, the outstanding participants of the Micro-Tyco for Schools Programme were rewarded for their innovative ideas and natural entrepreneurial spirit.

It was amazing to hear stories from pupils, including the youngest ever award winner who was just nine years old, managing to turn £1 into hundreds or even thousands of pounds thanks to a combination of entrepreneurial training and their own creative thinking and positive attitude. The Micro -Tyco Programme creates young entrepreneurs and future leaders by giving them award winning training, a memorable life experience and invaluable links with potential employers. The programme helps pupils from a variety of backgrounds unlock their potential and discover talents they didn’t even know they had.

Participants of Micro-Tyco don’t just develop business skills; they become commercialised, confident, resilient and ready for the world of work. 60% of Micro-Tyco participants identified as Not in Employment, Education or Training (NEET) have gone into employment after taking part.

Phoenix is a proud sponsor of the Micro-Tyco for Schools Programme and we were in good company at the event, with a number of WildHearts corporate partners represented including Barclays, Johnson and Johnson, LV and Network Rail. Our partnership with WildHearts is integral to our corporate social responsibility strategy

Micro-Tyco is a month-long entrepreneurial training programme that enables participants to practice fundamental business behaviours in a safe, ‘micro’ environment. Teams from schools, universities and businesses have one month to grow their £1 ‘seed capital’ into as much money as possible. Micro-Tyco unleashes participants’ latent talents, fostering essential entrepreneurial thinking, resourcefulness and teamwork. Participants receive world class business video training from Micro-Tyco Mentors (such as Josh Bayliss, CEO of Virgin Group and Thérèse Rein, Entrepreneur and Former First Lady of Australia) and access to the ‘Micro-Tyco Method’ eBook.

Participants can now also be recognised for their entrepreneurial excellence through the exclusive ‘Micro-Tyco Excellence Award’ in partnership with The Social Innovation Lab at Babson College, the world’s top school for entrepreneurship. Participants can also expand their networks further at Future Talent Forums, Micro-Tyco Master Classes and the WildHearts GEL Summits.

All money created by Micro-Tyco is invested by WildHearts in micro-loans for poor entrepreneurs in the developing world. Participants ‘become an entrepreneur to fund an entrepreneur’. By associating business excellence with social impact, Micro-Tyco aims to inspire the leaders our world deserves.”