Following months of work on their ideas for a Beverage Bin, students from Newquay Tretherras got the opportunity to present their ideas to a panel of judges on the 5th of June as part of their Post 16 Business course.
The work which the students completed was based on a brief from Dan Dicker, founder of Ashortwalk – eco product design company, along with Jill Stott and Amy Walker from Cornwall Rural Community Charity (RRC), which sought to find out ways in which people around Newquay could be more encouraged to recycle their plastic bottles and drinks containers. The students chose to work with the businesses because of a shared desire to make changes to the plastic problem which is increasingly being faced in the environment, and so set about conducting research and coming up with ideas. Throughout their time on the project, students have had the opportunity to work with various businesses such as Pirate FM, in order to further develop their own working knowledge of business and the issues around recycling.
Their presentations to the panel summarised their findings, sharing the results of the research which they had conducted and presenting their ideas for ways in which recycling could be encouraged, particularly in their target market of young people. The students also opened the floor to questions, fielding a range of questions from the panel in order to ensure their ideas were clearly understood, and further discussing some of their points.
Dan Dicker, MD and Founder of Ashortwalk said “The insight and ideas that came from the students research and presentations today have given us plenty to think about as we head towards implementing a commercial pilot of the Beverage Bin in Cornwall – thanks to the students we now know a lot more about what young people think about a Beverage Bin, what it needs to look like and how we might incentivise its use. Thank you one and all! We will use your research and mood boards, and we have captured all the insightful comments you shared with us during the Q&A of your presentations. You should all be very proud of what you have achieved with your projects.”
Dave Nicholls, Head of Business at Newquay Tretherras said “This is exactly the kind of project which we encourage students to take part in, giving them the opportunity to develop real business skills and knowledge through working with established businesses on a real world project. A massive thanks to Dan, Jill, Amy, Rachel and Will for coming along to the presentations today, and of course for giving our students the opportunity to work alongside you on such a fantastic project”.
Amy Walker, Community Development Officer for RCC said “I’m not sure the students realise the value of the information they have presented. They have put forward comments which are challenging some preconceived ideas and giving a better insight into the engagement of young people with the issue of litter. I hope the students have enjoyed working on a real-life project and have developed additional skills to benefit them in their future study and work lives. I look forward to working further with them and future groups to put their ideas into practical action”.
Thank you to Dan Dicker (MD and Founder of Ashortwalk), Jill Stott (Group Sales and Strategic Marketing Manager – RCC), Rachel Yates (Education and Training Facilitator – Pirate FM), Amy Walker (Community Development Officer – RCC), and Will Paris (Clean Cornwall Project Officer) for giving up their time for the students to present their findings to, and for their support throughout the project.