The Hyperlites Community

He found that pre-existing resources were stretched, leaving a gap in support for students and young people struggling with their mental health and making important life decisions. Having initially trained as a teacher, Andrew decided that he wanted to help more than a classroom of students.

“I wanted to help students and young professionals to achieve more from life, whilst also developing a stronger, more adaptable workforce for the next generation.”

He set about creating a collaborative network to run workshops and development sessions for young people and students, to help them feel more equipped to progress into their future careers.

Andrew joined the Ingenuity Programme in 2021, which gave him the confidence to keep moving forward with his idea and helped to tackle the imposter syndrome he felt having not come from a business background.

“The Ingenuity Programme provided so many learning opportunities for me. I had to learn forecasting, legal details and decisions for businesses, and different marketing and market analysis situations.”

Andrew’s award-winning ‘Hyperlites Community’ idea, saw him take home the ‘Build Community’ National Champion prize, alongside the second place West of England Champion and the regional Shakespeare Martineau Legal Prize. Through affordable coaching, mentoring and workshops, The Hyperlites Community will support young people to take hold of their future, whilst keeping their mental wellbeing at the forefront.

“I had wanted to do something like this for a while, as my own journey was not straightforward, and my idea was validated even from the start of the programme. I’ve never stood out on my own before, so having the validation of winning awards took me a few days to process. I realised I actually have an idea that works and make sense!”

Andrew will shortly be launching the pilot scheme in order to test and validate his idea.

“And then onto helping university students across the UK!”