Member Article

Cumbrian scholars set out stalls for Small Business Saturday

Pupils from five Cumbrian schools will be setting out their business stalls when they become market traders for the day.

Austin Friars, Blennerhasset Primary, Caldew School, Keswick School and William Howard are all taking part in Small Business Saturday – a nation-wide event celebrating Britain’s small businesses.

Carlisle’s Market Hall will be playing host to the enterprising pupils from the five schools and other small businesses from across the county on Saturday 7 December.

The Carlisle event has been organised by Carlisle City Council and Cumbria County Council has encouraged the schools to take part. The Small Business Saturday event has been made possible through partnership working between Carlisle City Council, The University of Cumbria, Cumbria Chamber of Commerce, Carlisle Market Hall and Cumbria County Council.

Caldew, William Howard and Blennerhasset Primary will all be selling Christmas items while Austin Friars are trading seasonal luxury food, beauty and home products. Keswick’s pupils, fresh from winning a national Giving Nation social enterprise award for their business prowess, will be selling tie-dye clothing.

Julia Winder, Cumbria County Council’s enterprise education officer, said: “This is a great opportunity for the five schools involved to sell their products directly to the public and get a real-life taste of running their own business.”

Alice Ghorst a year 10 pupil from Caldew School said: “We hope people will visit our stall because we have put a lot of thought in to what we are offering, including re-selling some products from local suppliers, which was very important to us, plus there will be activities for children and adults alike to join in with. Our products include locally made wreaths, Christmas trees, personalised baubles and a few fun surprises. We will also be giving a percentage of our profits to a local youth charity, yet to be decided.”

Jillian Harrison-Longworth, headteacher at Blennerhasset Primary, said: “We want to encourage our children to develop their entrepreneurial skills and by designing, making and then selling their items they will really put all of their prior learning into practice. As a small school this is going to be an excellent chance for the children to experience wider opportunities that will have a valuable impact upon their futures.”

The Small Business Saturday event at Carlisle Market Hall will be open to the general public between 09:30am – 4:30pm on Saturday 7 December 2013.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Simon Malia .