Enterprising Britain competition

Tynedale has been named the most enterprising place in North East England and is in the running for a national accolade.  The nation wide Enterprising Britain 2008 competition recognises the place where enterprise has helped transform a community and led to improved economic prospects for the area.  Tynedale was awarded the regional prize for the North East and has now been shortlisted for the national competition.

Reaction with the Tynedale Enterpise Network  a group of organisations supporting enterprise in the area, was instrumental in highlighting Tynedale as an area of outstanding enterprise and will be judged by a panel of experts, including entrepreneur and star of TV's Dragons' Den Peter Jones, in the national final. The network consists of organisations which work to transform the sustainability of Tynedale through the development and promotion of enterprise.  Besides reaction it includes  Tynedale Council, Tynedale Virtual College and Local Community Partnerships.

Andy Hugman from reaction said " the competition bid was very much a joint effort.  the Tynedale Enterprise Network has worked to stimulate enterprise, to create enterprising young people and to support private sector led enterprise development"

With a focus on involving the local community in stimulating enterprise, the Tynedale Enterprise Network seeks to engage with small businnesses in remote areas, work with more established businesses to address issues in the local ecomony and prioritise the enterprising talent of young people.

The network has helped to safeguard over 360 jobs and supported the growth of 81 busineses.  It has also helped 19 new businesses to get off the ground and provided assistance to over 2,000 young people in enterprise.  Close working relationships are an important feature of its core organisations.

Its other successes include:

• Establishing successful local company reaction to support enterprise.  The firm is also responsible for ID8, a fund which is dedicated to supporting young people's enterprise and is finances by the local council and Leader Plus.
• Setting up the Tynedale Virtual College, to provide better local education and training opportunities for local young people who were previously faced with leavng the area for further education after 16.
•  Establishing the Tynedale Enterprise Project, a private sector led network to support new starts and growing businesses.

. Tim Pain, head of Business, Enterprise  & Skills at One NorthEast said "Enterprise is key to diversifying and growing a sustainable local economy, particularly in areas like Tynedale which continues to face significant economic change.  The Tynedale Enterprise Network is an excellent example of a successful project that stimulates enterprise, creates enterprising young people and supports private sector led enterprise development.  Being shortlisted for the Enterprising Britain title is a fantastic achievement and a great way of putting our region on the map.  I'd like to wish Tynedale the best of luck in the national competition"  

Andy Dean, Director of Regeneration and Communities at  Tynedale Council, on behalf of Tynedale Enterprise Network said " Our activities engage all sectors of the community, from school pupils to established businesses.  The network takes a bottom-up approach, which means that the initiatives are sustainable and are creating a cultural change towards enterprise activity across the district"

Below: see Tim Pain, Andy Dean and pupils from Haydon Bridge High School.

Enterprising Britain 2008 judge and award winning young entrepreneur James Murray-Wells has visited Tynedale to decide whether it will be crowned the most enterprising place in Britain

During a packed visit James saw at first hand the partnership of organisations which is working to transform the sustainability of Tynedale by developing and encourging enterprise across the district.  As part of the visit James officially opened a new outdoor play area at an expanding childcare business owned by Tynedale's Young Business Award winner 24 year old Gayle Hodgson.

Little Badgers is the business whch Gayle was able to grow from casual babysitting work, with the support and encouragement of the Tynedale Enteprise Network. The nursery is adjacent to Haydon Bridge's Shaftoe Trust First School and provides good quality and "wrap-around" childcare for over 50 clients a week.

Employing 10 staff the business also works alongside Tynedale Virtual College, developing a virtual childcare facility for new vocational diploma students. Until recently Little Badgers had no outdoor play area.  Gayle explained "in order to meet the requirements of the new framework for childcare we needed to develop an outdoor environment which offers the children freedom to explore, use their senses and be physically active" The new play area is designed to be stimulating and interactive for the children and includes a wllow igloo and water feature incorporating large stainless steel balls.

Gayle is also a panel member of IDEATE and was joined by other panel members who told James how the fund supports young peoples' ideas.

Tynedale was selected by a team of judges with One NorthEast as the region's most enterprising place  in the regional heat of the competition and has faced this representative of the national judging panel in the hope of being named Britain's most enterprising area. 

Mr Murray wells commented "We have seen outstanding bids from all across the UK.  It is fantastic to see at first hand the places which makes Britain such a hotbed of entrepreneurial activity"

Tynedale is up against places across the UK including Plymouth, Herefordshire and Scarborough in demonstrating that it is transforming the community through enterprise.

The competition is run annually by Make Your Mark campaign on behalf of the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform and in partnership with the Regional Development Agencies to celebrate enterprise activity and reward entrepreneurial success.

the national winner will be announced in an awards ceremony in October.  They will then go forward to represent the UK in the European Enterprise Awards later this year.

Turn your seed of an idea into a thriving busienss! Find out how at our unique series of FREE workshops.

 Contact us for more information and watch this space for details of further workshops............

 

Northumberland Enterprise Learning Network

 Supporting teachers in Northumberland is another feature of reaction's work.  The Northumberland Enterprise Learning Network (NELN) arose from the experiences of schools involved in the DfES Pathfinder and Tynedale Virtual College, there are now 14 schools in the network across the region.   The aim has been to share good practice by activities such as networking with schools and businesses, effective use of NEEP funding, brokers regarding the use of outside agencies ,CPD training for staff and working in each other's schools.

NELN has also developed a bank of key stage 4 enterprise resources including staff training and lesson plans.  See the network's website at www.neln.org.uk

The impact that emerged from the network was that NELN is perceived to improve the quality of enterprise education provided in schools across the region.  Network members use the the meetings to share good practice and learn about approaches and resources that others have found to work well.   Selected comments are shown below:

"It gives me tried and tested ideas to use in my school"

"Enterprise is being incorporated more and more into different lessons"

"You can avoid the pitfalls as you learn from what others have done"

"The students are only getting the good stuff"

"Students need to learn how-to enterprise so that they are able to apply it inside or outside school"

 

A practical half day CPD module you can use to develop enterprise education in your school.

This continuing professional Development pack has drawn on the experiences of the schools that have taken part in the Tynedale Enterprise Learning Pathfinder and Northumberland Enteprise Learning Network.

This essential pack is a brief and practical introduction to help you and your team get started with staff development for KS4 enterprise education.  Designed to be used by staff in secondary schools it gives practical suggestions for planning, delivering and evaluating successful staff development.

It will provide answers to key questions such as:

• How should you approach staff development?
• Who should be responsible?
• What could and should be done?
• What methods might be used to ensure that staff have the confidence, skills, knowledge and understanding to work effectively with young people?

To receive your own enterprise 4U pack contact us or it is available to download at www.neln.org.uk

IDEATE aims to bring your ideas to life. Our funds come from the European Union.

So if you’re young and have a good idea you could get £1,500 to make it happen!  To find out more go to www.ideate.org.uk