A team from Haberdashers’ Girls School has won this year’s Young Social Entrepeneurs competition designed to encourage global responsibility.

Ten schools entered the contest to come up with an idea for a social enterprise that responded to challenges faced in the Bench Sheko Zone in Ethiopia - with five picked for the final this month.

Explaining their winning entry, entitled Bara Bamboo, Amy Welsh, Summer Goodkind, Tanya Gupta and Aparna Shankar explained that bara means “period” while bamboo is the most accessible and plentiful material in the region. “Our enterprise locally produces sustainable bamboo pads, aiding and improving the lives of women and girls, through improving menstrual health, and in turn education.”

Together with the runners-up from JFS, they have won a trip to visit the United Nations and NGO in Geneva.

YSE founders Asher Levy and Dan Amroussi - graduates of the Chief Rabbi Ben Azzai scheme to promote awareness of issues in the developing world, said, “We are very proud of the exceptional dedication displayed by all the finalists in this year's YSE competition.

“We look forward to welcoming them onto the YSE Alumni Programme later this year, where they will meet with leading social entrepreneurs and business leaders. Now approaching its fourth year, we are undergoing exciting growth plans and we can't wait to see YSE's impact continue to expand.”