Armstrong Medical team competing to ‘Make a Million’

Each company will undertake the challenge to turn an initial £1,500 investment into a fundraising profit of £10,000 through establishing and running a mini-enterprise.

Now in its 5th year, the fundraising competition successfully raised an impressive £130,000 in the last round to help The Prince’s Trust support disadvantaged young people from the ages of 13 to 30 across Northern Ireland.

The Million Makers campaign allows companies to engage, inspire and motivate employees to develop many transferable skills such as leadership, motivation and decision making while generating funds to help young people turn their lives around.

Once established, the teams will have to pitch their business plans to a Dragon’s Den style panel in order to secure their seed funding.

When their plans are approved and accepted, the teams have six months to implement and promote their own “business”. The winning team with be the one whose project has generated the most capital.

Armstrong Medical will compete against six other firms from around Northern Ireland. Based in Coleraine the firm employs 107 staff who all play a vital role in the manufacture and supply of high quality, innovative respiratory disposables for anaesthesia and critical care.

Kathryn Smith, HR Director at Armstrong Medical explained: “We are very pleased to be entering a team from Armstrong Medical, from a business perspective it gives our people an opportunity to enhance existing skills and to gain new experiences as well as helping us add value back into our local community.”

Ian Jeffers, Director of The Prince’s Trust in Northern Ireland welcomed the support from all of the teams saying: “The last round of Million Makers was an overwhelming success with eight companies raising a total of more than £130,000 over just six months. This is a fantastic result for the young people we support and for the participating teams who consistently tell us how much they personally gain from taking part in this challenge.

“I am confident that all of our teams will pick up valuable skills such as leadership, motivation and decision making, while at the same time helping The Prince’s Trust by raising much needed funds to support our work helping local young people get their lives on track and move into work, education or training.”