THE winner of the 2010 Sure Apprentice award is Ballakermeen High School 6th form student Ben Li, thanks to a clever fund raising idea.
In the final stage of the competition, which has been running since September 2009, the finalists were tasked with raising as much money as they could for the charity of their choice. Busiswa Zondi, also at Ballakermeen, raised over £900 for the Isle of Man Children’s Centre by organising a World Cup themed fancy dress day at the school, with a raffle and cake sale, to claim second place.
Ben also used a World Cup theme, and raised more than £1,800 for Hospice IoM by selling football cards and running a football syndicate based on the tournament, which made him the winner of the final task.
Ben commented on the task, “I really enjoyed the final task of the Sure Apprentice. The World Cup was a great opportunity to raise money for the charity. I was able to get the whole community involved at the same time, and I’m glad that I could help such a great charity.”
In order to reach the final stage of the competition, the two candidates survived a series of tasks that started in December. They have conducted market research into mobile phones; designed and marketed Valentine’s Day cards; devised a communications device for the future; and, in the penultimate task, faced a tough one-on-one interview with Sue Gee, Managing Director of TLC Business Solutions.
Ben’s apprenticeship will involve six weeks of summer work with the company, experiencing as much of the business as possible. He will spend time assisting all areas of the business, including corporate sales, marketing, product development and retail, as well as running his own market research project.
Sure’s Country Manager, Mike Stanton, said, “Both Ben and Busi should be very proud of the amount they raised. It was great to see both candidates develop throughout the competition, as they built on their clear natural talents with confidence and determination. We are looking forward to having Ben on the team, and are certain he will be a great asset to the company.”
