Southampton engineering student says everyone can become ‘change-makers’ after Enactus UK finals success
Student entrepreneurs from the University of Southampton have secured second place in the Enactus UK National Competition with two ambitious social enterprises tackling food waste and water scarcity.
Enactus Southampton’s Future Brew enterprise, founded by MEng Aeronautics and Astronautics student Dimitris-Marios Stoidis, scooped Dominvs Group Waste Reduction Competition and Ford College Community Challenge prizes in the national finals.
“As a company and as a student society, we are really strong believers that every person can become a change-maker through the everyday decisions they make,” Dimitris-Marios says.
“From what product you choose to what beer you choose to make, you can make a massive impact; that’s the main thing about university, because you get so many opportunities to actually create change in your local community.”
Enactus Southampton were named one of the top two of 60 teams in the Enactus UK programme following three rounds of presentations and Q&A sessions in a national finals held online due to COVID-19 restrictions.
Students at Future Brew collect leftover food from supermarkets to brew a bread-based beer and re-distribute produce in the community.
This month, the business has also launched a new Mystery Bag product, which is aiming to tackle day hunger. Each bag includes 10 to 15 fruit, vegetable and bakery items that are rescued daily from local supermarkets.
“When talking with some of our partner schools we discovered that a large proportion of school children from vulnerable families rely on schools for a daily main meal,” Dimitris-Marios says. “With every bag that we sell, we give one for free to a family in need.”
Enactus Southampton’s second national finals initiative, Project Milan, has created an innovative farming system that uses 95% less water than traditional farming in Delhi, India.