The GEW 2012 campaign in the UK was one of the biggest and best ever, what more do we need to say?
GEWUK 2012, in partnership with Barclays, smashed all records; 279,500 people attended over 3,200 events, organised by 532 partner organisations - a 30% increase on the 2011 campaign. WOW!
Beyond the huge number of people who took part, the range and spread of activity was truly sensational! GEW events took place throughout the entire country, including small workshops, classes in schools, debates, conferences, competitions and awards ceremonies. All starting with a huge launch on Monday morning.
From business leaders to government ministers everyone was taking part and wearing the famous GEW Compass with pride. Even Prince Charles, president of GEW UK host Youth Business International got involved, recording a special message of support for the week.
But what make this week unique? In a global community of 130 participating countries it is how you engage with the public and have a meaningful impact on real lives that counts.
We have led the way in connect aspiring entrepreneurs to the advice available in their communities.
How did we do this? Simple. We connect those who had advice with those who need it most!
The theme of the week was “Pass It On”, and we used GEW to pass on the practical help and support needed by early start-ups and individuals who are considering taking the plunge.
The campaign was a HUGE success. Over 750 pieces of coverage in the media, 6000 tweets mentioning #PassItOn and countless nuggets of advice being passed back and forward!
We even collected hugely influential panel of successful entrepreneurs to share their best advice in short films, you can still watch them all here
But what is the point of all this? Why do we do GEW? We do it because we want to impact people’s lives and help them make the most of their entrepreneurial potential!
In 2012 GEWUK did this better than ever before! 92% of the people who attended a GEW UK event said they felt more confident about pursuing their entrepreneurial goal!
To take just one example, it was a GEW event in 2011 which gave Londoner Reuben Joel the push he needed to start his business.
“I always knew that there was an opportunity to get into the business,” he says. “But I was having some doubts about what was required when starting your own business.”
After starting up, in 2012 Ruben took part in the Pass It On campaign, sharing his advice with a room of aspiring entrepreneurs
“I spoke to around 20-25 young people,” says Ruben. “A lot of them were very open to the idea of being entrepreneurs and wanted to know more about the mechanics of starting a business,” he says.
GEW UK changes lives!
What more can we say!