The launch of Deviate, a new society aimed to get students into enterprise and business whilst they are at university, drew a crowd at its launch at Varsity on Thursday, November 18th.
The idea is that the society will educate students about business and enterprise, so that when they leave they could start their own businesses, or even just have more of an idea of how to get a job in the field they want.
The launch party was held at Varsity, on Guildhall Street in Lincoln’s city centre and attracted dozens of students studying many different subjects at the university.
The night began with Gina Davies, the founder of Deviate, giving a speech on what the society is all about.
Davies said: “Deviate is all about encouraging students to be more enterprising.”
She went on to say that the society will hold events every Thursday, with a different speaker each week, so that students could build up contacts and get into “business relationships”.
The society will provide money and support for graduates wanting to start their own businesses, and can also provide office space in the new Enterprise Building next to the University of Lincoln’s library.
Mandy Jones, the head of Opportunities@Lincoln, was also at the event. Jones said: “There is much more potential for graduates to start working for themselves, but at the moment students just don’t know how to turn their energy and creativity into enterprise and we want to change that.”
Sharon Wright of Dragon’s Den, aka “The Dragon Slayer”, was supposed to attend, but unfortunately couldn’t due to a meeting that overran.