Students raise money for homeless charity Crisis (From Times Series)

Edgware students raise money for homeless charity Crisis

8:20am Thursday 9th February 2012 in News By Anna Slater

Teenagers at a school in Edgware are “over the moon” after their business venture helped to raise money and awareness about homelessness.

Arianna Breslaur and Annie-Rose Peterman, both 17, joined with 21 other A-level students at North London Collegiate School, in Canons Drive, to launch Fourty Winks, a company that designs and sells personalised pyjamas.

Arianna and Annie-Rose, who are managing directors of Fourty Winks, signed up to the Young Enterprise scheme last September, which gives the entrepreneurs of tomorrow the chance to build their own company.

Their business has already raised £900 for Crisis, a charity that helps tackle homelessness, and now the girls also plan to hold a sleepover at their school to raise awareness.

Arianna, who studies French, Spanish, maths and economics, said: “We started off in September and even though I went in with high hopes, I never expected it to be this successful. I’m over the moon with how it’s gone.

"We chose to support Crisis because it was really relevant to the theme of pyjamas, as some people have nowhere to sleep. "I’m really excited about planning a school sleepover - with everyone wearing our pyjamas - to help raise awareness about homelessness.

"We're also hoping to bring in a spokesperson from a relevant charity during the sleepover, to talk about the issues affecting homeless people and what we can do to help.”

Fourty Winks pyjamas, which are glow in the dark, won Best Overall Company in a competition between Harrow and Brent schools, held at JFS School, in The Mall, Harrow, last month.

The business also won Top Sales Revenue at a trade fair in Harrow, in December.

Bhavisha Patel, 17, who deals with operations, said: "It was really encouraging to win two competitions - we never expected that. We were up against some steep competition, so it’s been a massive confidence boost for us and I predict great things for the company."

The girls also hope to design British-themed pyjamas called Proud Jams, in light of the 2012 Olympics and the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, following on from the success of their Christmas-themed Snow Jams.