Six budding Nottingham entrepreneurs have been announced as winners of the 2022 Ingenuity Impact Awards at the University of Nottingham’s inaugural business conference.

After pitching their ideas to an expert panel, the local start-ups are among 17 UK fledgling businesses won awards, securing nearly £90,000 in funding to help them in the early stages of their entrepreneurial journeys.

Among the winners are three local women who were presented with the Brenda Dean Award for Female Enterprise:

• Caron Boughassoul and Shoana Khan run The People’s Pantry, based in Radford, Nottingham, which provides affordable, culturally appropriate food to community members from low-income households who are struggling to manage their finances.
  
  
• Charm Daley’s ‘Global Dance’ is a practical resource package for teaching staff and people working with children to use. It features easy-to-follow dance and music from different parts of the world with cultural attributes, giving children a safe space to talk and learn about difference, race and heritage whilst getting much-needed physical activity.

Two graduates and one current student from Nottingham’s two universities make up the East Midlands Champions:

• Ben Keeble, a Witty Entrepreneurial Scholar at the University of Nottingham, has developed the Mobiliaid, a seat raiser product which makes it easier for older people to sit and stand. Having noticed the impact that a lack of socialisation can have on older people’s mental health, Ben wants to make it easier for those struggling with mobility issues to leave the house, giving them back their freedom and a sense of independence.
  
  
• Ryan Brown, who studied Architectural Engineering at the University of Nottingham, has developed Cilo, an app designed to empower positive climate action by allowing users to see the carbon cost of products, track their daily spending, and receive personalised tips to reduce their impact.
  
  
• Inspired by her own experiences as a cancer survivor, Nottingham Trent University alumna Alex Perry’s H.E.R Bodywear aims to create self-esteem boosting lingerie for women who have lost their self-confidence following breast cancer surgery.

The winners were announced at an awards ceremony at the University’s business conference: Power of Partnerships: Driving change in the East Midlands in front of business leaders from across the UK and politicians including Ben Bradley MP, Leader of Nottinghamshire County Council.

Elizabeth Smith, Head of the Ingenuity Programme at the Haydn Green Institute at Nottingham University Business School, said: “Over the last six years we have been committed to using the concept of civic entrepreneurship to drive change. It's been fantastic to have support from the UK’s largest health charity Nuffield Health, as well as local organisations like Shakespeare Martineau LLP and Nottingham Forest Community Trust to continue this mission. These partnerships have enabled us to expand our capacity for helping our participants to develop their ideas and entrepreneurial skillsets, to start making lasting and meaningful change in their communities."

Brendan Street, Head of Charity at Nuffield Health said: “Nuffield Health is honoured to have partnered with Ingenuity on this amazing programme, with our sponsored initiatives presenting a wide range of inspiring initiatives that will meaningfully impact communities in terms of health, wellbeing and sustainability.

"From an initiative improving the lives of people living with dementia, to an enterprise increasing access to the outdoors to combat loneliness for those with limited resources, and a programme that will change the lives of those in underserved groups experiencing domestic abuse; it has been a true privilege to be involved and see how each initiative, and those involved with them, have grown.

"This is only the beginning of Nuffield Health’s partnership with Ingenuity, and we look forward to supporting this years’ winners in the months to come as well as helping find the civil entrepreneurs for 2023.”