Each year, Enactus in 36 countries works with 72,000 students across the world to create programmes and competitions that help them to develop their leadership skills.
Sodexo has established a partnership with Enactus UK to support students’ employability and encourage their entrepreneurship alongside making a social impact.
Tom Laskey, sales and marketing director, schools and universities at Sodexo UK & Ireland, said: “We are really excited to be entering into partnership with Enactus UK. Our shared focus of entrepreneurship, investing in local communities and making an impact on the quality of life challenges that schools and universities face like mental illness means Enactus is a natural partner for Sodexo.
“Our teams’ close contact with the student community, who often have moved away from home for the first time, means that we are highly aware of the mental health support needed by today’s young people. We are proud to support students as they develop social enterprises that can promote mental wellbeing, while our roles as business advisors mean we can provide students with expertise and leadership as they transition into the workforce.”
The programme will see student enterprise teams from universities compete in projects focused on a theme developed by the company in conjunction with Enactus UK.
With the wellbeing of students a priority area for Sodexo, the first project in the programme will focus on mental health support.
Teams will present their progress to a panel of Enactus and Sodexo judges next month, and the winning project will be entered into the Enactus UK national competition in London in April.
Another element of the partnership will see a team of Sodexo business advisors supporting Enactus across the UK. They will visit their local universities and offer mentoring and advice students as they approach graduation and enter the commercial world.
Andrew Bacon, CEO of Enactus UK, said: “The Enactus programme challenges our young future socially responsible leaders to partner with local communities and partners to identify real needs and deliver real impact.
“We are really pleased to be working with Sodexo on such an important challenge of how to develop interventions to improve wellbeing and better support mental health.”