Working with Young Entrepreneurs
At Broadbean we like to help good causes and we think it's very important to be an ambassador of what you believe in as opposed to watching from the sidelines. We know our people are our most valuable asset so we donate their time and wisdom to the potential leaders of tomorrow.
About Young Enterprise
Founded in 1963, UK registered charity Young Enterprise runs a range of business and enterprise education programmes for more than 150,000 young people each year through the support of thousands of businesses and volunteers.
Case Study: Fusion Films, St. Josephs Academy
Winners of Young Enterprise's Company Programme, the teenagers that formed Fusion Films have proved that being a part of the scheme can be a life changing experience.
We first saw the boys at an East London heat of the competition at Charlton FC last year. The boys (aged between 14 and 15) presented about the film company that they had started at their South London school.
The boys were determined to make a film about the crime and gang culture that exists all around them and worked out how much they would need for camera and film making equipment. They started a film and games club where students could play computer games and watch films at lunch times or after school. They sold snacks and fizzy drinks for profit to gather enough money for the equipment.
After collecting several hundred pounds the team wrote, directed and acted in "We don't do blazers".
After winning in two categories at Charlton, the group got to the East London finals that were held at Clifford Chance in Canary Wharf. In just a couple of months, the boys seemed to have grown up dramatically and presented their case to an audience full of business people, students and teachers.
Being curious Beans, we wanted to know what had inspired the young people to make a film and the difference being a part of the company programme had made to them as young people and entrepreneurs.
Some members of the Bean team went to visit the boys at their school and the experience was quite an eye-opener:
Justin Williams is head of Year 10 at St Josephs School. As well as ensuring the welfare of 120 at risk of failure boys, he teaches the work related learning classes at the school. Justin, who has a unique approach to teaching, has his work cut out with these youths. Most of the boys under Justin's care are in a gang and on the day we visited Justin was disciplining a member of his class who had pushed a teacher. The boy was a member of the notorious Triad gang.
The Young Enterprise winners were keen to volunteer information about what it was like to live in ìBlue Borough" the nick name for the area of Lewisham rated one of the "worst family places" to live in London.
The boys told us that they estimated 60% of their peers carried a knife or CS gas to school. They explained that it was just a way of life and many of the young people around them had given up on education already and were living a life of crime, stealing cars, selling drugs and mugging people. They thought that some people were involved with crime because there was nothing better to do in the area.
Starting the film and games club had given the boys and their friends something to do and after winning the first heats, they worked hard to improve their presentations for the London finals.
So what did Young Enterprise do for the boys?
As well as keeping them occupied and out of trouble, the team members now feel more confident about their future options. Dan McGuire spoke at Clifford Chance about the journey he had had since school. The boys said that hearing the steps that brought Dan to success were extremely encouraging. One said that it made him think, "That's what I want".
Since winning the competition the boys at St. Josephs are all determined to go to university and are keen to become mechanics, firemen, plumbers, architects and business people.
The fusion film group members are all doing GCSEs next year and the general consensus among them is that the company programme had made a real difference to their lives; it's just a shame it had to end.
