Friday August 27, 2010

Homeless entrepreneurs with a business idea that can take them into employment and independent living are being sought to take part in Sparklers 2010.

Sparklers seeks to support homeless individuals who have the vision, drive and passion to transform their business ideas into reality.

Sparklers was born out of the Spark programme, after having indentified that there were many talented homeles indivduals who aspired to develop their own business ideas and whos personal circumstances denied them the opportunity to do so.

Sparklers 2010 was launched by founders John Montague, CEO of the TREES group, and Nigel Kershaw, Chair of Big Issue Invest.

Davina Roberts, a winning Sparkler from 2009, won backing to set up Punch and Juicy, a Social enterprise that creasts and sells healthy juices in the form of liquid food.

Davina who had been homeless for 7 years said, " My life has changed so much over the past year, that it can be overwheming"

Nigel Kershaw added, "Sparklers is a crucial stepping stone in helping homeless enterpreneurs achieve their business aspirations".

Entrants for Sparklers 2010 need to submit their applications to sparklers@sparkchallenge.org.uk  by 5pm on 24th September.