As Christmas shopping reaches full swing, Borough Market will be broadening its offering beyond food for one day only, with special guest traders from the Southwark Young Entrepreneurs programme.
Run by Southwark Council in partnership with Borough Market, the Southwark Young Entrepreneurs Programme aims to teach secondary school pupils invaluable enterprise skills. Following a series of workshops that covered brainstorming, the creation of business and financial plans, marketing and trading standards, three teams from two schools have been chosen by a panel of local experts to showcase and sell their goods.
Pupils from The Charter North Dulwich and St Michael’s Catholic College in Bermondsey will be setting up stalls on Wednesday 7 December and putting their new-found business skills to test, with a day’s trading at London’s iconic Market.
Shoppers can expect to find ‘Detail Jewellery’ selling their handmade bracelets and ‘Tree Rings’ with their rings made of recycled wood from The Charter North Dulwich’s year 10 pupils, and ‘Tote-ally Friendly’ printed tote bags highlighting environmental issues from year 8 students at St Michael’s Catholic College. All profits will be donated to the students’ chosen charities.
Jane Swift, CEO of Borough Market, who was a member of the judging panel says: “We always enjoy welcoming the Southwark Young Entrepreneurs to the Market for their annual Christmas sale. It is so important for young people to learn skills that can help them find work later in life and where better to discover entrepreneurial skills than at their local Market, which happens to be one of the most famous in the world! It is so interesting to hear the new ideas their young minds come up with during the programme and witness the joy they get from seeing their idea brought to life and sold to the general public.”
Zubair Patel, Business Links Officer at Southwark Council, says: “Delivering workshops with the students, managing the project and discussing possible product ideas with the young people is insightful. This opportunity needs to be available across London at more schools. Seeing the winning teams gain first-hand experience of selling at Borough Market is a rare opportunity for young people in education.”
The Southwark Young Entrepreneurs Programme is run by Southwark Education Business Alliance, part of Southwark Council in partnership with Borough Market. 80 pupils go through the programme annually, with 30 shortlisted to sell their products in Borough Market each year.
