Brett Centre for Entrepreneurship runs Start-up School for 16-19 year olds
The Brett Centre for Entrepreneurship Start-up School is a free 3-day programme for 16-19 years olds based in the Liverpool City Region.
The project worked with the University of Liverpool Widening Participation and Outreach department as well as other local agencies and organisations such as the Liverpool City Region Careers Hub.
The initial Start-up School ran during the Easter holiday (Wednesday 12 - Friday 14 April) in the Management School with 16 local sixth-form and college students.
Richard Leighton, Entrepreneur in Residence, and Dr Zeineb Djebali, Senior Lecturer in the Brett Centre for Entrepreneurship, delivered and facilitated the sessions across the three days with the help of six entrepreneurs that talked to the group to provide insights into setting up and running successful ventures and three-panel members for the pitches that consisted of a local entrepreneur and industry experts in starting-up and investment.
The initiative kindly received Higher Education Innovation Funding (HEIF) funding to run the pilot with the view to refine the experience and run additional sessions for other young entrepreneurs in the future.
Over time, the aim is to help more school, college, and university students/graduates in Liverpool to start up and create commercial and social impact in the region.
The Level 1 accredited Start-up School involves individuals learning about entrepreneurship, the processes to successfully design, develop and create a commercial or social enterprise, to create a pitch, and to practice pitching that to others.
Some participants were also offered the opportunity to pitch a start-up idea to a panel to win start-up funding of £750, £500, £250, or £125 with a total of £2500 in grants allocated to young entrepreneurs.
The winners of the grants are also provided with some mentorship and ongoing support from the University of Liverpool Entrepreneurship Society and the Brett Centre for Entrepreneurship as well as invited to attend activities like the Entrepreneurs Monthly Meet-up the Centre runs for entrepreneurial students/graduates across the city.
In addition to this participants were provided with refreshments and lunch across the three days and a graduation ceremony with certificates, photos, and a small celebration party with pizza and refreshments to all celebrate completing the programme!