OsBiz raises money for charity

Young entrepreneurs at Oswestry School have raised more than £800 from their ventures this year.   

‘The Hub’, the school's new facility for OsBiz schemes, has been at the heart of the operations giving the entrepreneurs a base from which to operate their businesses on a daily basis.  This year saw six ventures in total, each selecting their own charity to support. A grand total of £831 has been raised during the year.

Wonderful Waffles run by Daren Guan, Johanna Krauss, Victoria Raffle, Maxi Praschinger and Francesca Jones were the first business to secure funding for their venture selling fresh, homemade waffles to hungry crowds of pupils at break-time.  

‘Waffle Wednesday’, as it is now known, grew from strength to strength with the group raising the largest amount of money. 

Their proceeds will support Nightingale House in Wrexham, a charity very dear to the heart of one member.

Spokesperson for the group, Victoria Raffle, said: “The charity we have chosen means a lot to me and my family.. We really wanted to make a difference and with the £401 we raised we think we have achieved this." Daren Guan, in charge of production, said the key to their success was teamwork.

Azaan Chapri, Omar Elbasyouny and Ryan Nyamandi set up OsHoodies selling personalised, school branded hoodies.  

To stand out from previous competitors this group offered two styles of hoodies, the traditional stitched logo design and a new ‘Henley’ style hoodie with the school branding across the shoulder. The modern design proved popular particularly amongst the younger generations.

The Yard was created by Kike Olu Ibukun, Hauwa Dauda, Evelyn Ma and Sarah Bucknall to sell Oreo milkshakes.  Their special blend of ice cream, Oreos and milk, topped with whipped cream, was popular everyone at Oswestry School, both students and staff.  The Yard, along with OsHoodies, chose to support Hope House and raised £114 in total.

The provision of refreshments was at the core for most of the entrepreneurial groups this year, eager to make use of the new Hub facilities.  Coco was set up by Charlotte Cope, Freya Morris and Deepthi Nallasivan to sell luxury hot chocolate during the cold winter months.

Spokesperson for the group, Charlotte, said: “We quickly realised there were deals to be had if resources were bought in bulk and this enabled us to reduce our unit costs and maximise profit margins”.  Coco raised £101 choosing to supporting the Shropshire Retired Greyhound Trust.

‘Hot dog Friday’ filled the gap in the market for hot snacks and gave customers something to look forward to at the end of each week. 

Iwan Williams, Henry Bowen and Donald Gray ran a busy school tuck shop raising funds of just over £60 for POD, a charity which organises entertainment for children in hospital.

They also provided refreshments at various school events and society meetings seizing every opportunity to sell their wares.

OsBiz also took over Sixth Form tuck shop and, in the hands of Oliver Woodward, Abou Darbo and James Wigley, they made over £230 to fund a Sixth Form social event or activity of their choosing.

Mrs Linda Stephens, head of business faculty, said: “This year we have seen a 60% increase in money raised for charity and I am delighted with results."