Fifteen teams of budding entrepreneurs from schools in the district raised more than £15,000 for charity by taking part in the sixth annual Dragons’ Apprentice Challenge.

At the awards ceremony held at the University of Hertfordshire last week, the team from St John Lawes School emerged as the overall winner.

The Year 12 students in Team Midas raised £1,820 for Age UK Herts with the support of mentor Kelly Avis Hay from EK Procure, through a number of innovative business activities - including making and selling fleece scarves, organising a race night and hosting a celebrity football match between Saracens Rugby Team and St Albans Football Club.

The six shortlisted teams presented to a packed auditorium and were quizzed by a panel of SuperDragons representing local businesses, the voluntary sector, government and higher education,

The Miracle Workers team from Samuel Ryder Academy in St Albans scooped three awards on the night including the most money earned - with £2,046 for their charity Hertfordshire Society for the Blind.

They also won awards for the closest co-operation with their charity and best example of using community radio.

A Bollywood evening at Harpenden Town Hall was the culmination of activities organised by Ignite from St Albans Girls’ School under the guidance of their mentors from Rotary Priory.

This, together with a Year 7 disco and an Aladdin Musical Tuck Shop, produced £2,042 for their charity Youth Talk.

Back in September teams of Year 12 students from St Albans and Harpenden were each given £100 and challenged to develop business ideas to turn the investment into £1,000 or more for their designated charity, with the help of a local business mentor.

By raising over £15,000, the teams generated a total return of over 10 times their original investment.

Throughout the Challenge, teams used every opportunity to promote the charities and community groups they’d been paired with.

The Dragons’ Apprentice Challenge offers students the opportunity to experience setting up and running a business, gaining organisational and job related skills and learning about the work and beneficiaries of their designated charity.

Penny Mortimer, who created the challenge said, "Over the six years since its launch, over £120,000 has been presented to 53 different charities and community groups in the St Albans and Harpenden area.

It brings schools, charities and businesses together and develops relationships, which often go way beyond the period of the competition."

In total, almost 1,000 young people across the county have generated around £250,000 for over 160 Different charitable organisations.