Young entrepreneur helps Unicef to raise hundreds of thousands to support families in developing countries

Hassan Iqbal, a young entrepreneur who helped to raise hundreds of thousands to support children and their mothers in developing countries

Hassan Iqbal, from Rochdale, is a young entrepreneur who has has worked with Unicef to support young people in developing countries in the latest chapter of his journey as a young entrepreneur.

Hassan, 21, whose businesses all involve computers and I.T. started fixing and repairing computers at age eight for family and friends and by age 13, he had set up his first computer repair company, at 16, he had three businesses to his name.

• www.rochdaleonline.co.uk/news-features/2/news-headlines/82488/young-entrepreneur-wants-to-inspire-others

After completing his GCSEs he studied a two-year Enterprise Diploma at the Peter Jones Enterprise Academy, which was launched by Dragon’s Den panellist and investor Peter Jones CBE.

• www.rochdaleonline.co.uk/news-features/2/news-headlines/99473/hassan-iqbal-scoops-£3000-top-prize

With his passion for business and his drive to make a difference to the lives of others, Hassan has used his creative skills through his marketing and design business CreativePixels to support the charity Unicef which is the UN agency headquartered in New York City which provides humanitarian and developmental assistance to children and mothers in developing countries.

Hassan and his team worked on creative concepts for the Unicef UK 2018 Halloween Ball in London, an annual event which features high profile celebrities and guests.

The ball raised over £478,000 and a spokesperson for Unicef UK, April Williams, said: “The design of the programme allowed us to very clearly advertise the live/silent auctions and raffle and the pledge card was so engaging and made it very easy for guests to donate. Without Hassan's expertise and support in creating these, raising this incredible total would not have been possible.”

Hassan, who is a TEDx Speaker and who was one of the region’s first to benefit from the OBLG fund supporting up and coming enterprises in Oldham, says starting early was crucial to his success: “I believe starting early allows young people to actually learn, grow and even make mistakes which help build them to become more confident and resilient individuals and the young entrepreneurs I’ve met and worked with, show exactly this; they understand the challenges, they’ve faced many but yet their confidence and determination just grows. Start young and you can only keep going up”

As he looks towards his success this new year, Hassan reflects on his journey and gives his advice for young people looking for fresh options in the new year: “My personal aim for 2019 is to get back into the ‘entrepreneurship world’ after a three year break whilst being at university, hoping to get out and network more, meet more amazing people and help support, speak to or even mentor other young people who are at the start of their journey, as I may be still be within my journey, but I hope I can inspire others.”