Ben Atkinson-Willes is a 23 year old young entrepreneur from Kingston University in South West London where he is studying for a product and furniture design degree. The young entrepreneur was inspired by his ill grandfather for his venture Active-Minds. The company sells activity products for dementia patients.

The current products, which started as a part of his coursework, include jigsaw puzzles and a unique and reusable painting activity, both specially developed for people with Dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.

“It’s important to keep people with Alzheimer’s as physically and mentally active for as long as possible, because it gives them a better quality of life in the long run,” Ben explained. “One thing my granddad loves doing is puzzles, but the products with fewer pieces were generally designed for very young children. I wanted to create something that would suit his need and respect his age.”

Ben founded the company while in his second year at Kingston University after securing £5,000 funding from the University’s Entrepreneurial Grant Scheme, which enabled him to get the product designs and website created.

Ben has since gone on to win Pitch 2010, where he pitched his product to judges much like you would in Dragons Den. He won the top prize after coming through the south west heats and beating 6 other finalists to claim £50,000 of funding and support for his business.

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