Green and clever is a project started by, and run by, enterprising students from the SIFE team at the University of Southampton. The aim of our project is to generate a sustainable income that will support SIFE Southampton's great work in the local community and overseas.

Charitable donation is built directly into our business model and, at this stage, we anticipate donating up to 50% of our net profit to SIFE whilst the remainder will be plowed back into growth and marketing.

SIFE Southampton is a new student-owned social enterprise at the University of Southampton. This means that we earn a profit through several business activities and then re-invest the profits in projects that benefit society. Our team include students from the southampton University, who are reading a variety of subjects at a variety of levels. SIFE Southampton currently has several projects, inlclude the following:

The Madagascar project - Our project leader - Priscilla Guercina and her team, have set up a micro-lending scheme that aims to enable poor families in Madagascar to start up small businesses, such as a chicken farm. SIFE Southampton are organising the scheme, providing the initial investment and then providing support to these families. The long-term goal is to make the project self-sustaining so that we can move on to a new geographical area.

The Consultancy project - In this commercial project, the the consultancy team - headed by Pooja Patel, have set up a website health check service and a facebook consultancy. The consultancy team have received a large contract from business link to provide website health checks to small local businesses, while the facebook consultancy has several contracts with different organisations, including Price Waterhouse Coopers.

The Sierra Leone project - This project is a partnership with a local charity called the Saint Georges Foundation. James Stewardson and his team have set up a clothing embroidery business, which supports a long-term project in Sierra Leone. The team aim to provide training in IT skills to chidren in the Saint Georges Foundation shelter for homeless children as well as a rice growing operation with small villages.

Green and Clever - Our newest project has been set up by James Pipe. He is currently organising a launch event on 6th March which is hosted by Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills: John Denham, on the subject "Innovation and the Environment". Following this event, Green and Clever will provide an innovative one-day environmental review for local businesses.

Interested?
Our team is constantly growing and we now have 25 members. SIFE Southampton enables students to develop vital "real life" skills, confidence and passion that are essential in the employment market. The challenges involved in SIFE Southampton therefore require students to be the most committed and active students at the University. We require students to submit an application for a particular role within the team. If you are interested in joining our team and want to find out which roles you can get involved with then please contact Shivani Patel on s.patel@sifesouthampton.co.uk to find out more.