Breda Academy's Young Entrepreneurs Excel in Council Enterprise Scheme

May 10, 2018

Lisburn & Castlereagh City Council ran four entrepreneurship workshops aimed at Year 13 students within the Lisburn & Castlereagh council area.

The final workshop was held at the Island Centre, Lisburn with students from Breda Academy. Students were placed into groups and tasked with proposing a new business idea to a panel of judges.

A diverse range of ideas were proposed including a recycling business, a money management app and pet tracking technology. The winning team on the day presented a teens-only gym and impressed the judges by thoroughly exploring this business proposition from every perspective. 

Speaking at this recent event, Councillor Scott Carson, Chair of the Council’s Corporate Services Committee commented; “We hope to encourage and cultivate the entrepreneurial flair of our young people in this area, they are the innovators, entrepreneurs and leaders of the future.”

The purpose of this European funded €220,000 ERASMUS+ Student Entrepreneurship Project is to develop a more mainstream approach to entrepreneurship in education.  Evidence shows that as well as increasing levels of business start-ups, the focus on entrepreneurial skills such as innovation and creative thinking, will stand students in good stead for their working lives. 

Following the success of these interactive workshops, the Council is in the process of developing a toolkit to be used by schools and colleges across Europe that will provide detailed instructions for 10 pilot initiatives. In doing so, this will enable knowledge to be transferred between European Partner countries and permit best practices to be shared.

Speaking about the Toolkit, Alderman Allan Ewart MBE, Chair of the Council’s Development Committee commented; “The final Toolkit will be published in a professionally designed PDF format and made freely available from June 2018. It will enable education and training organisations to provide guidance and support to students who as a result, will be more likely to develop entrepreneurial mind sets and become the entrepreneurs of the future.”

For more information on the Young Entrepreneurship programme please contact Sarah Johnston, Programmes Officer at sarah.johnston@lisburncastlereagh.gov.uk.