24 November 2008, 08/269
Enterprising
education for budding entrepreneurs
Schoolgirls across West Lancashire had the opportunity to meet
up with local businesswomen as part of National Enterprise
Week.
Ladies from the Women Excelling in Business (WEB) Network and
West Lancashire District Council’s Enterprising West Lancashire
team - which is funded by the North West Regional Development
Agency (NWDA) via the West Lancashire Local Strategic Partnership’s
Investing In Business programme - met up with pupils for the event
on 12 November.
The District Council and Women Excelling in Business organised
the ‘Enterprise in the Curriculum’ day to highlight the importance
of an enterprising approach towards life, education and work.
Year 10 and 11 pupils from six schools across the district
participated in the event: Our Lady Queen of Peace, Glenburn Sports
College, St Bede’s Catholic High School, Burscough Priory Science
College, Ormskirk School and Lathom High School. During the day
they learnt how to develop new business ideas and produce finance
and marketing plans for their business.
The Council’s Chief Executive, Bill Taylor, opened the event and
also shared his experiences on how to be successful in your chosen
career path, encouraging the girls to grasp opportunities to shine
and be different.
Throughout the day local entrepreneurs shared their skills with
the students through the activities of the ‘Young Women’s
Enterprise Workshop’, which included designing company logos,
setting budgets, producing a marketing strategy and preparing the
girls for an ‘Apprentice’ style business pitch to a panel of local
businesswomen at the close of the day.
Girls who attended said:
- "I would never have considered starting my
own business, until today"
- "I thought this event provided us with a
great understanding of business, and I hope they carry on and
provide this to all young women"
- "I thoroughly enjoyed the day and loved being
M.D. It has made me want to further my business career"
- "I enjoyed designing and planning the
product, it has increased my confidence"
Cllr Adrian Owens, Portfolio Holder for Regeneration and
Estates, said:"The event was a phenomenal success and the girls
were really enthusiastic about what they had learned during the
day. Many of the girls have gone away thinking about how they can
put their ideas into reality to start up their own business or
create fundraising ideas for their schools. Businesswomen members
of WEB who took part in the event also felt the day had been a huge
success and were pleased they were able to inspire our younger
generation to be more innovative in the future. Hopefully this
event and the other work we do will create a ‘can do’ enterprising
culture amongst our young people."
For more information about the Council’s business role and
support it offers, contact 01695 577177, email info.edu@westlancsdc.gov.uk
If you would like to find out more about the Women Excelling in
Business network contact Clare Joynson on 01695 712600, email
info.edu@westlancashireinvestmentcentre.com
or visit the Investment Centre
website (external link).
Related information