www.young-enterprise.org.uk
ISSUE 15
Potential unleashed!
Our ambitious plans to reach more school and college pupils, as well as more young people outside mainstream education
Inside
this issue...
Endless benefits
Expanding our reach
Business involves people
Find out how volunteering can benefit your business, your employees and hundreds of young people too.
We expand our programme to work with young people with additional educational needs, boosting their self - confidence and helping them into jobs.
A former minster for trade and small business offers advice to tomorrow’s entrepreneurs, 50 years after joining his first Young Enterprise programme.
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Words from the wise
Rising to the challenge There is a crisis facing young people in England and Wales right now. But it is a crisis that Young Enterprise is determined to face head-on. I’m delighted to announce that Young Enterprise is launching our groundbreaking Unlocking Potential strategy. Through it we’ll tackle the core issues that exclude young people and hold back British business. Employers say that young people don’t have the skills they need for the future. The UK economy is suffering as companies struggle to recruit the employees they need. Half of firms say young people lack even the basic skills they need to succeed in the workplace.
Michael Mercieca Chief Executive of Young Enterprise
“Through Unlocking Potential, we’ll be rolling out proven entrepreneurship programmes and life-changing initiatives for a whole generation of young people”
The Equality and Human Rights Commission has found that young people are struggling to achieve economic independence and success. Around 950,000 young people in the UK, one in seven 16 - to 24 year - olds”, are at risk of social exclusion, reduced well-being, income inequality and reduced prospects. It doesn’t have to be this way. Unlocking Potential is an exciting four-year plan that aims to take Young Enterprise programmes to exactly where they are most needed. Through it we’ll boost our traditional programmes in mainstream education: at primary, secondary, college and university level. But we’ll also do more to work with young people who desperately need a leg-up in life: those in the youth justice system, those in care, those with disabilities, and those with special education needs. Through Unlocking Potential, we’ll be rolling out proven entrepreneurship programmes and life-changing initiatives for a whole generation
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Lord Davies of Abersoch participated in a Young Enterprise mini-business when he was at school nearly fifty years ago. Now he generously supports our Company Programme in his native Wales. He was Minister for Trade, Investment and Small Business and is the Chairman and a Partner at Corsair Capital, a private equity firm specialising in financial services. He also sits on a number of other company boards.
of young people who could otherwise face an uncertain future of unemployment, hopelessness and possibly even of declining physical and mental health. We already know that Young Enterprise’s work has significant impact to tackle these issues. Evaluation of last year’s flagship Company Programme found that nearly nine out of ten participants said they had improved their ability to work productively under pressure, while over eight in ten stated feeling more confident about their future. Unlocking Potential aims to help more people to achieve their full potential in their personal and business skills. The recent one-year anniversary of financial education being introduced to the secondary school curriculum offered us a key platform to share its passion and expertise. We have been able to raise the issue on the national political agenda; we’ve met with MPs and held events at political conferences; we’ve appeared in national press and broadcast media. Unlocking Potential will do yet more to raise Young Enterprise’s public profile and increase our impact. There’s so much still to do to tackle social exclusion and the skills gap among young people. But with your help, our strong track record in delivering quality programmes, and our ambitious Unlocking Potential strategy, I know we will achieve great things together. Thank you for your support.
What do you remember about your Young Enterprise company? Lots of laughter and a huge amount of debate with fellow students. It’s very much like business: some people agree, others don’t. What advice would you offer to Young Enterprise participants? Don’t worry if you make a mistake. My first venture was cleaning cars on a Saturday morning. I got hold of a cleaning product and found out that it changed the colour of the car. It was only after I had started the cleaning that I realised. You learn the most from those kinds of mistakes!
Why do you financially support Young Enterprise? Because the earlier you get involved and understand business ideas the better. Not just the value of money, but how much business involves people and relationships as well as numbers. What advice would you share with those entering the careers market? Never stop reading or learning, no matter how old you are because you’ve got to grow. Set your ambitions high and don’t be too self critical, you’ll gain confidence as you go.
News in brief... National Centres of Excellence conference - helping to create a network of schools with financial education expertise
This year’s annual conference took place on 19 November in London, and provided an excellent opportunity for teachers, funders, expert consultants and Young Enterprise staff to come together to share, learn and explore what works best in financial education. Over 130 delegates attended, including teachers from the 88 schools currently on the programme, 32 of which were presented on the day with their Centre of Excellence awards for integrating high quality financial education into and across the curriculum.
Delegates heard from a range of speakers including Martin Lewis OBE (Money Saving Expert), and participated in two tailored workshops. This conference is an important part of the programme, creating a network of schools across the UK with financial education expertise, providing professional development opportunities and promoting on-going improvements in each centre. The particular focus on sharing this year will support schools to take their financial capability into the wider community.
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www.young-enterprise.org.uk
Business support is key to unlocking the potential of a million young people Young Enterprise is calling on businesses to provide more volunteers and business support as the charity attempts to reach over a million young people over the next 4 years.
www.young-enterprise.org.uk
Young people are 3 times more likely to be unemployed than those over 24
82% of Young Enterprise participants say involvement has given them more confidence to achieve in the future.
The strategy outlines what Young Enterprise will do to continue to tackle youth unemployment and to give young people the skills they need to succeed.
“We need more educators, volunteers and businesses to get involved. And there’s no getting away from it, we need money so we can keep up with demand, reach out to and engage young people and make a difference to their lives.” The strategy will see a huge increase in the number of children and young people the charity works with, including the aim to be working with three out of four secondary schools by 2019. It will also see Young Enterprise step up its work outside of mainstream education, working within the youth justice system, and with social workers and youth workers. Young Enterprise will also be supporting young people in their first six months of transition into the workplace. “We recognise there are a whole tranche of young people who are not currently benefitting from our programmes, particularly those falling out of mainstream education. It is not good enough that they can’t access the programmes that could help them,” said Sharon Davies, Chief Operating Officer.
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Young people on multi-enterprise education opportunities are five times less likely to be NEET* (Not in Education, Employment, or Training).
The Unlocking Potential strategy outlines the charity’s aims from 2015 to 2019. It recognises the “destructive skills gaps” that are harming young people’s future potential and could damage the wider economy.
“We have the ambition and the vision to reach over a million young people over the next four years, but we can’t do it alone,” writes Chief Executive, Michael Mercieca.
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What we know...
94% of teachers say Young Enterprise has made their pupils more aware of their strengths and weaknesses. *Education and Employers Taskforce (2012) ‘It’s Who You Meet’
“Our Unlocking Potential strategy will go to where those young people are to offer potentially life changing initiatives. “We also know that the first few months in employment are precarious ones for young people. Young Enterprise is ideally placed to ensure those young people continue to be inspired and develop new skills that could help them retain jobs, and to grow and develop into their careers.” Another new element of the strategy will be to increase the use of new technologies to deliver business programmes and to support learning. Digital technology offers the opportunity to work with more young people and create greater impact, but also to keep costs down. Young Enterprise already works with over 6,000 business volunteers from many hundreds of businesses. Download the Unlocking Potential strategy at:
young-enterprise.org. uk/strategy
How we’re unlocking potential... Support all young people, but particularly those who need our help the most, to build their skills and characteristics needed to succeed in business and life. Increase Young Enterprise’s reach to 75% secondary schools by 2019. Extend our support for young people up to their first six months in the world of work. Ensure employers recognise the value of skills and character and consider Young Enterprise alumni as prized recruits. Develop delivery models that support and complement the education curriculum. Develop programmes and build support for educators working with young people outside of mainstream education. Increase our use of digital technology, to extend our reach and achieve better value for money. Continue to place emphasis on measuring our impact and our Social Return on Investment, so we can demonstrate our programmes work to prevent unemployment, low pay, poor wellbeing and poor mental health.
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www.young-enterprise.org.uk
School snack stall turns £5 into a healthy profit Food and fashion loomed large among prize winners at the Fiver Challenge award ceremony in September.
You may not be able to beat them, but why not join them..?
Tenner Challenge for Adults We’re launching a Tenner Challenge for adults, running alongside our schools’ version.
This challenge won’t just change the lives of young people, it can develop skills and display hidden talents for adults too. Participants will get a chance to work as a team, build commercial skills, see the whole business process, develop creativity and demonstrate talents no-one knew existed.
The challenge is easy, take a £10 note and see how much you can generate from that seed capital in one month. Our young people will be there to provide tips and guidance to help you along the way. Last year they averaged £156 profit from their £10, so you may want to listen to what they have to say. The best team generated over £5,100 so there’s a real challenge if you want one!
It’s easy to participate, just decide if you’re going to sign up as team or go it alone. Register at www. young-enterprise.org.uk/ registertenner and we’ll send you a pack with ideas to get you started, inspired and motivated, straight from the experts, our students. Come up with that killer idea (whether it is a cake sale, a car wash or a creative idea never seen before it’s up to you). Then build those sales.
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Experts will be there to support you, give you ideas and suggestions and make sure you have fun. After all, our students have learnt the valuable lessons to help them to succeed, it is only fair they pass these on. And don’t worry we’ll try to ensure that they don’t tease you too much if you don’t do quite as well as they do. The Adult Tenner Challenge will take place from 22 February to 18 March 2016.
The Fiver Challenge, which is supported by Virgin Money, gives primary pupils £5 and challenges them to launch a mini-business. Richard Branson, the founder of Virgin, recently highlighted the Fiver Challenge in helping to develop enterprising attitudes and behaviours in young people and said he was “blown away by the resourcefulness, talent and purpose of the student entrepreneurs involved.” A team of pupils from the Temple Meadow Primary School in the Midlands were winners of the Best Group in the five to eight years category after selling healthy fruit kebabs at their school sports day. A team at the Polish School, Glasgow achieved the most profitable business initiative in the five to 8 years catalogue, selling home-made fashion accessories. The most profitable business initiative in the nine to eleven years category was from a team at St Nicholas’ CE Combined School who sold sherbets, smarties and much more and made a whopping profit of £670. “We built our confidence because we had to ask around the village; sending out flyers and it became easier to talk to people,” said one student participant from the East Midlands. A fellow student said: “We used to argue a lot, but we listen to other people’s ideas a lot better now.” In the nine- to 11-year-old category, prizes were awarded to a team that sold grow-your-own vegetable kits to
promote healthy eating, a team that promoted school plays, and a team that sold cup cakes. One teacher from the North West spoke of the various skills pupils had developed thanks to the Fiver Challenge: “It supported with teaching children about money management and applying skills to different contexts. Also, teamwork and communication was key.” The most inspiring individual award went to Lorna from The Roseland Community College in Cornwall. Her company up-cycled former pupils’ tartan school uniforms into hair scrunches. She donated the profits to a local children’s hospice. Lorna said: “It’s made me think about my future a lot more, what I can do and what I can achieve.” Registration is now open for the Fiver Challenge’s ‘sister’ programme, Tenner, which gives 11 to19-year-olds £10 and challenges them to turn it into a profitable business.
The programme helps them to develop key skills including creativity, positivity, resilience and problem solving. Students have one month to come up with the idea for a business, take calculated risks, sell their product and experience what it’s like to be an entrepreneur. tenner.org.uk
fiverchallenge.org.uk
This year’s Fiver Challenge 32,000 pupils took part 500 primary schools participated 94% of teachers said pupils developed employability skills
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Volunteering for business: the benefits are endless “Volunteering with Young Enterprise has been integral to our business growth. The people we have met, the other volunteers and the inspiring young people that we’ve been able to interact with - they’ve all made a difference to how we do business.” So says Matthew Collins and Nana Hughes-Lartey, Managing Directors of Rora Media, a Glasgow based graphic design studio. Their staff volunteer with Young Enterprise to support pupils on our programmes in a local school. “As a graphic design agency we wondered how we could really offer anything, but the list of benefits really are endless. For me, the most stand out impact is helping young people and getting to see the change that occurs due to your input.
“We discovered that it isn’t the type of business that matters, but the experience of the people in the business that can help make a change through volunteering.
In 2014 - 2015
“We would recommend it and hope to be involved for as long as possible.”
Volunteers gave172,642 hours of their time
“We discovered that it isn’t the type of business that matters, but the experience of the people in the business that can help make a change through volunteering”
We worked with 6,031 volunteers
They helped us deliver 338,340 learner experiences to young people aged 4-25 years.
Top Tips for Business Volunteers
Take the right approach: The students will take their lead from you, so prepare well, dress smartly and take a business-like attitude. Remember, you’re a mentor not their parent.
Thinking of volunteering? You can be assured that your expertise and experience will be of huge value to pupils. These Top Tips will help you all make the most of your time together.
Talk to pupils like adults: Be enthusiastic, friendly and use the students’ names. They will consider this a sign of respect and personal interest. Your drive and enthusiasm will be an inspiration.
94%
of teachers agree that Company has raised awareness of young people’s own strengths and weaknesses
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Help transfer learning into new solutions: Help young people learn from every situation. Encourage them to think how they may approach things differently using their learning from a recent experience. Even if it’s what not to do next time.
Offer a challenge: Give pupils the opportunity to think about problems and to attempt solutions. Let them learn from any mistakes, ask lots of questions and offer clues towards any right answers.
Case Study: Lambert Smith Hampton
Selling in the right space Lambert Smith Hampton, the commercial property surveyor now supports Young Enterprise, by encouraging its employees to become business volunteers across the UK. The company is to host a series of Masterclasses for secondary schools, giving pupils an insight into the world of commercial property. To kick off the year long partnership, twenty volunteers from Lambert Smith Hampton joined a small business day in London. They encouraged pupils to consider retail industry concepts such as using floor space well and the importance of
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Build on strengths: Everyone has strengths and something to offer including students who may seem unengaged at first. Try to find ways in, and build on the skills they have.
Compliment, don’t criticise: Offer praise and encouragement to young people trying to find solutions even if their plans don’t always work. What might seem obvious to you could be quite confusing for someone with less experience.
footfall. It meant pupils were able to plan their own selling space, and create inspiring stalls that would attract the highest number and most relevant shoppers. Volunteer Sophia Sham from the Bristol office said the session was “even more fun and rewarding that I thought it would be. Can’t wait for the next one!” Ezra Nahome, CEO of Lambert Smith Hampton, said: “By opening the commercial property door to this audience, we can make a real difference to young people across the country and actively encourage more diversity in our industry.”
Ways to get involved...
• Host a series of workshops in various geographical areas • Become a Mentor or Business Advisor for a group of pupils • Offer an inspiration talk or Q&A to local schools • Become a competition judge, encouraging tomorrow’s entrepreneurs • Launch a fundraising initiative for Young Enterprise You can find out more about volunteering with Young Enterprise at young-enterprise.org.uk matthew.collis@y-e.org.uk
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Character building and new life skills for young people of all abilities ages With the support of the Department for Education’s Character Education Programme, Young Enterprise has redeveloped its Team Programme to engage pupils with Special Educational Needs and/or Disabilities (SEND). The Team Programme is aimed at 15 - 19+ year-olds who have mild to moderate learning difficulties, or who are studying Entry Level or Level 1 qualifications. It teaches pupils business skills while also assisting them in the transition from education to independent living and the world of work. As well as revamping the Programme’s resources, support from the Department for Education, in addition to that from The Band Trust and Peter Harrison Foundation has enabled Young Enterprise to work with an additional 26 schools and 268 students. Alongside academic
rigour, the Programme aims to encourage character building among its participants in and out of schools. Character education aims to allow pupils to emerge from education better equipped to thrive in modern Britain. “Young Enterprise has been really good for our students, particularly those who have more limited communication skills,” said one teacher from Mapledown School in London which has participated in the Team Programme. “During the selling you see them gradually begin to interact with customers. For some a small step is just saying ‘hello, how are you?’, but that’s a really big achievement for others, so it’s fantastic.” The Team Programme closely mirrors Young Enterprise’s flagship Company Programme in encouraging and supporting pupils to set up companies. But the materials used and the teaching style for Team are adapted for those with learning difficulties or additional educational needs. Team Programme students gain practical experience as they manage money, open a bank account and interact with customers, and they develop life skills such as communication, confidence, teamwork, resilience and money management. All are fundamental skills for young people making the transition between school and the world of work.
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15-19+
years
The Head of sixth form at Weatherfield Academy, Dunstable said students had benefitted immensely from joining the Team Programme. “This Programme has given them opportunities to develop their communication and organisational skills alongside developing their self-confidence. The students have achieved so much more than we could have ever imagined, and all will help them immensely in their futures either at college or in employment.” Young people with SEND are some of the most disadvantaged people in our society. The education inspector Ofsted’s special educational needs and disability review (2010) found that SEND students tend to be disproportionately from disadvantaged backgrounds, are much more likely to be absent or excluded from school, and achieve less well than their peers. Sarah Middleton, Head of Programme (Enterprise Education) at Young Enterprise said: “The expansion of Team Programme is part of Young Enterprise’s aim to take enterprise education to young people no matter what their educational ability or additional needs. We’re committed to tackling inequality and exclusion and so are delighted to expand Team to enable us to do that more effectively.”
Developing character Don’t believe the stigma! James Garrod runs the Team Programme at The National Star College in Cheltenham, a college for students with SEND. James was on the Local Volunteer area board for Young Enterprise for eight years, but three years ago became more involved after being a judge at his local trade fair. He began running the Team Programme at his college because he wanted to support young people to achieve and to foster their practical business skills and knowledge. “Even if they don’t apply these in business, then it will help them with their careers in general by illustrating the links between marketing and finances and how it all fits together,” he said. Having seen the Young Enterprise Programme in action, James believes that the development of confidence skills and the ability to do well in a competitive work environment are the most valuable elements that the students pick up.
“The programme helps to get students into paid employment and grow in confidence and self-belief. It teaches them not to believe the stigma that having disabilities means there is no point in trying,” he said. “Even if it is just a case of ‘I would like to have a job one day’, Young Enterprise helps them to think broadly about what area might be in. Would they, for example, like to have a customer facing role, or, be behind the scenes? The participants begin to think about these choices as a result of what they enjoyed and what they didn’t during the Team Programme. “Each specialised school may have a different niche and disability, but the confidence boost is the common ground that is the Team Programme’s key strength.”
Through the Team Programme, Young Enterprise and the Department for Education are committed to helping more young people develop a set of character traits and behaviours that underpin success in education and work, such as:
• perseverance • resilience and grit • confidence and optimism • motivation, drive and ambition • community spirit • tolerance and respect • honesty, integrity and dignity • conscientiousness, curiosity and focus To find out more about the Team Programme and how it could benefit your students wendy.gorham@y-e.org.uk
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UK school children bag prizes for money management skills School children from across the UK have been awarded for their money and personal finance abilities following the seventh annual My Money Week.
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My Money Week 2015 was held across the UK from 8 - 14 June. It is a national activity week for primary and secondary schools that culminated in a national competition supported by Visa Europe. Over 4,000 children and young people entered the competition which had a digital finance theme. Visa Europe saw the initiative as a fantastic opportunity to talk to children and young people about digital payments, and the quickly changing world of digital finance. Kevin Jenkins, UK and Ireland Managing Director at Visa Europe said: “With technology change influencing all aspects of society, including how we spend and pay, it is hugely important to equip young people from an early age with the understanding and financial capability needed in today’s increasingly digital world. “We were very pleased to work with Young Enterprise on the competition element of My Money Week. The Week is a brilliant initiative which has supported 4.3 million young people to improve these skills over the years.”
My Money Week aims to improve primary and secondary school pupils’ financial skills, knowledge and confidence through a week of special lessons and activities. Teachers benefit from access to free My Money Week resources such as weekly teaching plans full of creative and engaging activities for pupils, as well as videos, worksheets and other ideas on how to deliver financial education to young people. “We were very pleased to work with Young Enterprise on the competition element of My Money Week. The Week is a brilliant initiative which has supported 4.3 million young people to improve these skills over the years”
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The next My Money Week will take place from 13 June 2016 and is kindly supported by Martin Lewis OBE. Visit the My Money Week website at:
pfeg.org/mymoneyweek
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Case Study: Chris Slater
Get a decent sponge and a bucket... Chris Slater, COO of the UK’s largest insurer of start-ups and small businesses, Simply Business, has been actively involved in Young Enterprise for five years, helping us to promote the great work we do with leading business figures. The budding entrepreneur completed our Company programme in 1994. What do you remember of your Young Enterprise company? We had an event and I remember having to package up our products at my mate’s house until midnight, amid total chaos. But I also remember the next day looking with pride at our stand, having been able to get it out to a deadline. Why do you financially support Young Enterprise? I see Young Enterprise to be the only route where kids can learn about business in a practical way, rather than from a textbook. I see it as a necessity for the future of our economy.
“We need to stimulate entrepreneurship in the minds of young people”
Politicians: How will you boost our career prospects?
What bit of advice would you share with young people entering the careers market? When you are young you have ambition and that feeling that you can do anything, but that feeling can get chipped away in school, university and work. I’d say don’t listen to people who say you can’t do something, be brave enough to go with your courage and convictions. I’ve just handed you a £10 note to establish your own business. What do you do? I would use the £10 to buy a decent sponge and bucket, going door to door washing cars or windows. It’s a service business which the UK has some real success in. If I can make enough in the first few weeks, I can use some of my profits to advertise my service online to drum up more business.
Secondary school students have challenged Labour and Conservative politicians at their party conferences about how they will tackle unemployment for young people leaving education. Students who participated in Young Enterprise’s Company Programme, from both Wilmslow High School and Seaford Head School in East Sussex, attended the conferences. They told Education Secretary Nicky Morgan and other senior MPs how the programme had boosted their confidence, teamwork and leadership skills. “These young people were able to tell MPs about their concerns and aspirations for leaving education,
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things that are so easy for politicians to forget about years after they were at school,” said Margaret Ambrose, Head of Public Affairs and Public Relations at Young Enterprise. Business leaders, including those from Visa Europe and the Federation of Small Business, plus senior politicians and academics also joined Young Enterprise for a panel discussion at the conferences where we called for young people’s skills development to be placed further up the political agenda. To find out more about Young Enterprise’s work influencing Government policies: stuart.burt@y-e.org.uk
Expert guides teach pupils vital financial skills Teachers are to benefit from two new handbooks from pfeg which will help them teach key financial topics in secondary schools. pfeg is part of Young Enterprise and together we are the UK’s leading charity that empowers young people to harness their personal and business skills. We are here to help those teaching young people about money. The expert guides will support teachers as they deliver financial education such as how to understand pay and salaries, calculating income and expenditure, how to save, and how to deal with debt. Written in collaboration with finance experts, they aim to support financial education as part of careers education, as well as in personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) lessons. “The publication of these resources is timely as more and more business are calling for young people to receive
quality financial education, as well as quality work experience, while still at schools,” said Charlotte Churchill, Educational Services Manager for financial education at pfeg/ Young Enterprise. Both guides have been awarded the Quality Mark, the industry standard for high quality financial teaching resources. A 2015 Young Enterprise survey revealed teachers prefer using teaching materials that have received the Quality Mark. The full range of Quality Marked resources is available on the pfeg website at www.pfeg.com/ QualityMark. A Practical Guide to Financial Education within PSHE was written in partnership with Bank of America Merill Lynch, while A Practical Guide to Financial Education within Careers Education was produced with support from Capital One.
Download the teaching guides now... Teachers and interested businesses can download copies of the financial education guides. A Practical Guide to Financial Education within Careers Education. pfeg.org/ careers-resource
A Practical Guide to Financial Education within PSHE. pfeg.org/ psheresource
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Our ever growing list of partners support us through: • Providing direct financial support • Volunteering as individuals, in teams, or joining our advisory or Trustee boards • Supporting Young Enterprise Programmes, or providing prizes and awards • Offering us in kind and pro bono support
To find out more about Young Enterprise nationally or in your region visit www.young-enterprise.org.uk
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Young Enterprise head office: Yeoman House, Sekforde Street, London, EC1R 0HF, Email: info@y-e.org.uk, Tel: 020 7549 1980 Produced and distributed by Young Enterprise. Charity No. 313697
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Some of the UK’s leading businesses, trusts and foundations, as well as some truly generous philanthropists, make a huge difference to Young Enterprise’s work and to the lives of young people.