From classroom to Kenya

Students from Newcastle Business School who developed and implemented a marketing strategy for charity, Team Kenya, are getting the chance to see the benefits of their work first-hand.

The second year Business with Marketing students and Team Kenya collaborated to develop a new working holiday initiative as part of the School’s Business Volunteer Scheme. Their market research showed there was demand for a student package including a varied itinerary with a fixed cost for all trip expenses. Following this the students went on to produce marketing collateral for their ‘Working Holiday’ initiative including leaflets, business cards and brochures.

Team Kenya operates in Ndhiwa, helping a rural community in the Nyanza region of Western Kenya where many of the people living there struggle to provide for their families and often suffer from malnourishment. Team Kenya provides education and enterprise support to help Ndhiwa overcome these challenges and deliver sustainable benefits for the future.

Student Alex Henderson led the team that helped develop the project:  “We wanted to come up with an initiative that would appeal to students. It has been great to be involved in a project where we can put our business skills into practice; you really do get back as much as you put in with ‘Working Holiday’. I believe we’ve made a real difference to how the charity markets itself to students”.

The students are now travelling to Kenya as part of Newcastle Business School’s travel scholarship scheme which is just one of the extracurricular activities on offer to students to help them enhance their employability skills.

Commenting on the benefits of the travel scholarships, Christine Sorenson, Director of Business and Engagement at Newcastle Business School said: “These are wonderful opportunities. The students come back more mature, having developed their team building and language skills and are energised from the cultural experience. They are just the types of stand-out experiences that develop the skills that employers are looking for look for.”

Gordon Wilson of Team Kenya said: “Team Kenya makes a real difference to the lives of the people there. Working with Northumbria has been a great opportunity for us to get ourselves recognised within the university and the locals of Ndhiwa are looking forward to the students coming out to volunteer”.

To find out more about Team Kenya and the ‘Working Holiday’ project contact ukteamkenya@gmail.com or visit www.teamkenya.org.uk