During April and May 2014, Five Lamps’ MyBnk Project Officer Jenny Donaldson delivered a MyBnk Enterprise- in- a- box programme to ten 18-21 year olds at Stockton Riverside College
Classmates from the Transition to Further Education course put their newly found entrepreneurial skills to the test in a market trade challenge.
During the programme, the group split into teams and choose a range of products to sell. They then took part in a number of expert MyBnk workshops. The interactive workshops introduced the students to the concept of social enterprise, including writing a business plan, budgeting and marketing before selling their products.
Tutor Alexa Lang said:
“The students have learnt many things from this project. They have learnt about enterprise, advertising, customer service, money handling skills, working together as a team and research”
The products chosen by the groups all had an exclusive ethical edge exclusively sourced by MyBnk and included Seedboms®, Visionary Soap® and Divine Chocolate®. All items are ethical and promote fair trade as well as helping prevent pollution to the environment, raising awareness for valuable causes.
The products were available to buy from the stall run by the Abbey Hill School & Technology College pupils. After reinvesting £40 back into more stock and decorating their marketplace, they made a total profit of £112.84 and donated 50% back to the MyBnk project.
The young people are studying the transition course at Stockton Riverside College as they prepare to make the move to the college.
Student Jake Wilkinson, 20, of Sedgefield, said:
“I have enjoyed this challenge thoroughly. We have been learning a lot about money skills and how to work as a team”