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Teenagers from across the district were offered the opportunity to enter Babergh District Council’s own version of the Dragons’ Den at a youth event which was held on 17th November,during Global Entrepreneur Week, at the Stoke by Nayland Club. The Council’s annual youth conference focused on providing opportunities for young people to develop life skills and raising their awareness of the expertise needed to create a successful, sustainable business. The event involved around 60 young people aged between 12 and 15 years old from numerous schools, youth clubs and organisations in the Babergh district.
Young people had the opportunity to listen to the experiences of Adam Greenfield, a young business owner and to take part in the Enterprise in Action Programme which was delivered by Jenny Clarke, Area Manager of Young Enterprise Suffolk.
Babergh hosted the event in partnership with Young Enterprise Suffolk and the East of England Enterprise UK (Make your Mark), and it was run like a real-life business day with Adam Baker, Suffolk Project Manager for the 2012 Games, delivering an exciting ‘challenge’ to the young people. Their challenge was to design and create a product inspired by the ondon 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
The day concluded with the teams entering the ‘Dragons’ Den’ – a panel made up of
Cllr Jennie Jenkins, Chairman of Babergh District Council, Hazel Johnson, Head of Region - East of England Enterprise UK, Adam Greenfield, young entrepreneur from Lowestoft, Jayne Lindill, Business Manager, East Anglian Daily Times & Evening Star and Yvonne Moores, Business Development Officer, Suffolk County Council.
The winning team called Olympus 30 designed a personalised seat cover made from recycled materials, which sports fans could take to the Olympic Games as well as other public events with less than sumptuous seating to make the experience more comfortable and memorable. The award for best teamwork went to a team called OES who came up with a board game, based appropriately, on Stamina.
Laura Barnard who was on the winning team described the experience as awesome. "Today has taught me that business and economics can be fun".
Jill Barton, Babergh’s Community Development Officer, commented: “It was a really exciting and educational day and I know all our attendees were inspired by the challenge. Their inventions were amazing. It is really important for all young people to develop life skills and to learn about the opportunities available to them through entrepreneurship.”
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