Student entrepreneur wins £2,000 bursary, three more up for grabs
Charlie Warren, the second winner of the latest Santander Junior Entrepreneurship Associate Bursary competition
An entrepreneurial Sussex student has won a £2,000 bursary towards the launch of a business that will link UK university sports societies with overseas sports camps.
Charlie Warren, a third‑year Business and Management student, is the second winner of the latest Santander Junior Entrepreneurship Associate Bursary competition, which is open to all undergraduate and postgraduate students at Sussex.
He and his business partner, who is not a student at Sussex, plan to use the bursary to conduct market research.
The Careers and Employability Centre, Sussex Innovation Centre (SInC) and Santander bank are intending to award three more bursaries to enterprising Sussex students in the near future.
For students looking for support in getting their idea off the ground, the final call for entries to the competition opens on 26 January and closes on 1 February.
Charlie commented: “I found out I had won the bursary just before Christmas, so it was like an early Christmas present. Winning is fantastic, as it has really inspired us to pursue this opportunity. Now we have timelines in place, and we are getting help from SInC in developing our business model.”
Paul Jordan, who supports student enterprise at SInC, said: “Having previously applied, unsuccessfully, for the Santander Bursary in November, Charlie reapplied for December’s competition after taking some more time to work on his idea.
“We felt that this time the proposition was stronger, more ambitious, and would benefit a global community of university societies.
“Charlie’s success is a clear message for the other students who were unsuccessful in the competition, keep researching and developing your idea, and have another crack at it. There are still three prizes up for grabs in January and February.”
Maya Stanford, a student on the MSc in Human-Computer Interaction, was announced as the first winner of the competition in December.
Her business idea was for a computerized system that will help to treat a range of mental health disorders including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
SInC is a University-owned hub for start-ups and innovative companies. It is based on campus, and is currently home to more than 100 member companies.