City Challenge: Student volunteers help to launch Hartcliffe City Farm cut flower farm.
Category: Bristol Futures
Talent Foundry Ambassadors
The Talent Foundry charity organised three events with different schools throughout the Bristol area to encourage year 7 and 8 pupils to consider university as an option for their future. Their mission is to increase social mobility by helping young people from disadvantaged backgrounds discover what they are amazing at, develop valuable new employment skills and take that first step into the world of work. (more…)
The Foundership scheme
New for Summer 2021! The Foundership scheme is open to students and recent graduates who want to explore their start-up ideas. Formerly the Enternship scheme, the Basecamp Enterprise team have revamped the programme for this year, giving student entrepreneurs the opportunity to explore their options over Summer break.
The four-week scheme equips founders with £1,000 funding, ringfenced networking and workshop opportunities, and allows you to work from the comfort of your own home.
Sound like something you may be interested in? Here is what you can get out of the scheme this Summer:
Goal setting-
On submitting an application, we will ask you to set out what you would like to achieve over the four weeks. This could vary between wanting to undertake some research on your target market to building a prototype. Setting out what you intend to do will mean you can hold yourself accountable, it will motivate you to strive to succeed and will help you break down your overarching goals into tangible, achievable chunks. Successful applicants will submit a weekly report to Basecamp outlining what they achieved each week. (more…)
The New Enterprise Competition- Development stage
The world of employment has changed significantly over the last 12 months due to the pandemic. What has felt like months of uncertainty over what the future holds, the prospect of diving into the deep– end and starting your own business might seem daunting.
However, working for yourself and launching a start-up in 2021 can be a great opportunity. Particularly if your enterprise fills a gap in the market, is well researched and it is something you’re passionate about. 
The New Enterprise Competition – Development stage is now open for applications. This stage of the competition awards up to £1,000 to 10 start-ups. Funds can be used towards developing student and graduate start-ups. Historically winners have ranged between social enterprises combating food waste, to sustainable clothing businesses and much more.
We spoke to one of last year’s winners, Fix My Crack- which some of you may know by their previous name Brisfix, to find out what winning this stage in the competition meant to them and how they found the process. (more…)
8 reasons why you should do the Bristol PLUS Award!
As the new academic year starts, we are so excited to welcome you all back and *drumroll please* open the Bristol PLUS Award for registration! (more…)
Top tips for building your networks online
As we approach five months of limited public gatherings due to the global pandemic, the meaning of ‘meeting new people’ has changed. Gone are the days of shaking hands, greeting someone has become a virtual exchange with an enthusiastic wave hello and goodbye. 
Even though in-person professional events may not be taking place for some time, there are still lots of opportunities taking place. Despite first impressions, our new digital environment has opened fantastic new opportunities to meet and engage with others from all over the world. Creating that great first impression is just as important online as it is offline, so we’ve put together a list of our top tips on building your network, right from the comfort of your own home.
The New Enterprise Competition winners!
The New Enterprise Competition drew to a close last week and the winner of the Growth stage was Kaedim, winning £10,000 and 12 months incubation at SETSquared.
Kaedim, launched in 2019 by Computer Science with Innovation students Konstantina Psoma and Roman Bromidge, is an Artificial Intelligence (AI) start-up which turns sketches into 3D models. Their degree based at the Centre of Innovation and Entrepreneurship alongside the help of the Basecamp Enterprise Team, allowed them to develop their idea, enhance their entrepreneurial skills and draw on a pool of expert industry mentors.
Below: The Basecamp Team (virtually, of course) announce the good news to Kaedim
Over the course of the year, the Basecamp Enterprise Team received over 100 applications to take part in the Ideas, Development and Growth stages of the competition. Winning the competition gives students, graduates and staff the opportunity to win prize money and unlock support packages to help develop and grow their start-up ideas- whether it be a business, charity or social enterprise!
Here’s what Kaedim had to say about winning this years’ top prizes:
#10YearsOfPLUS: A decade of devotion to employability.
We are getting a little nostalgic as we draw closer to the end of the PLUS Award’s 10th anniversary year (just under 6 weeks to go!) We are so proud of all the achievers, past and present.
The PLUS Award has certainly grown and evolved in the past decade; In its pilot year, 165 students achieved the PLUS Award, since then over 5,000 students have achieved it. Another 800 have finished so far this year, persevering to bag their Award despite changing circumstances! (more…)
Sport and employability: the perfect team
Are you a Student Leader, volunteer or coach in one of Bristol SU’s Sporting groups and societies?
According to Public Health England, students “with better health and wellbeing are likely to achieve better academically” So not only does being part of a sporting group or society increase those endorphins, connect you with people and develop valuable skills, it can help you succeed! This topic is brilliantly explored in the recent Wonkhe blog: “Demonstrating the link between sports and student success”
Ways to develop your skills and employability from home
In recent weeks the situation in the UK has been changing almost daily with the most recent advice being that we stay at home. Many of you would have been due to start internships and work experience opportunities over the Easter and summer breaks, which now might have been cancelled as a result of COVID-19. While this is really disappointing for you, the good news is, there are loads of online opportunities to get involved with and develop your skills!
The Engagement Opportunities Team have pulled together some remote and online-based opportunities that you can still get involved with. (more…)