Albury-Wodonga La Trobe University students have won the Big Idea competition over 11 teams from across Australia.
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Samantha Richardson, Nathan Potter and Jenny Bevis pitched their social enterprise concept, The Vibe Collective, this afternoon to a panel of judges in Melbourne.
They were announced as winners at 7.30pm.
Ms Bevis said the winning pitch was to create a network to help young people develop skills, emotional resilience and professional opportunities through workshops and events.
“Our challenge regionally is there are some great venues but they aren’t necessarily relevant for 18 to 30 year-olds,” she said.
“There’s a lack of opportunities to develop their creative and professional skills.”
She said the network would stop young people being “lost in the system”.
“We’ve found that a lot of people in regional areas connect through work or sport but there’s a massive pool who miss out,” she said.
“Our theory is if you don’t have access to employment opportunities, to skills development or good self awareness your chances are you’re more likely to struggle in life.
“We want to help people find their drive.”
The group have received interest from Social Traders Australia and will test-run The Vibe Collective over a series of events.