On Friday, the Young Traders arrived and were part of an interactive training session to help them think about the best ways to run their stall the next day. It was also a chance for all the Young Traders to get to know one another and what was being sold. We found out some of what was going to be on offer the next day: candles, cheese, make-up, t-shirts, art prints, shoes, cards, a range of food, and even happiness! We got a bit excited that the regional news had shown up to film the training in action, and that we were creating a buzz on some local blogs.

Our Young Traders were there to make some money, but also to try and do some social good. This could be about where the money was ending up; some was going to charities – including one for a fund at a school supporting a boy who is dealing with cancer – and some was about spreading a positive message, or sourcing the products locally, ethically, and giving people the opportunity to learn new skills.

Saturday morning arrived and it was time to set up our stalls, ready for our customers. The National Youth Market was happening in Albert Square in the city centre, a prime spot for passing customers.

It was a rainy and windy day in Manchester, but this didn’t slow the Young Traders down, and the buzz and noise of a market in action filled up Albert Square.

We’ve also put some photos on our Facebook Page. Are you one of the Young Traders? Tag yourself!

To see some more highlights from the day take a look at the #NationalYouthMarket hashtag.

Find out more about the Young Traders campaign here.

Do you think you could do what the Young Traders did and Be Extraordinary For A Day? Well, we’ve got just the opportunity for you!

BE EXTRAORDINARY FOR A DAY! »

Related articles

• The Young Traders Are Coming!
• Young traders pitch up in Albert Square’s National Youth Market

We received some fantastic applications to our Young Trader competition, and we’re really excited to see what our Young Traders make of the opportunity to trade in the busy city of Manchester. All products being sold will be about creating a positive social change.

The Live UnLtd Award Winners will be travelling from different parts of the UK on Friday 10th May for a special training day delivered by our friends at the National Market Traders Federation. They will get some top tips about running a stall.

We’re working with the National Market Traders Federation and Manchester Markets

And on Saturday – it’s go time! They will be selling their own products to the general public.

Everything from home-made chocolate to a stall selling happiness will be there on the day! A prize of theme park tickets will also be handed out to the best Traders on the day!

If you can get to Albert Square in Manchester between 11am and 4pm on Saturday 11th of May, we’d love to see you stop by!

If you’re not going to be able to make it, you can keep up with all the action on the day by following us on Twitter and Liking us on Facebook.

@LiveUnLtd »

Facebook.com/LiveUnLtd »

Ernst & Young are one of the supporters of the awards and will offer the ‘Future 50’ access to their Accelerate Network for entrepreneurs. Through Accelerate, the winners will be invited to learning and networking events and receive thought leadership and access to a business mentor.

The deadline for applications is Monday 8th April so there are just a few days remaining to take up this fantastic opportunity. Head to www.future50.co.uk to take part.

Okay, take me to Future 50! »

Related articles

• Ernst & Young Insight: Taking women-led businesses to the next level: Ernst & Young launches Entrepreneurial Winning Women in Canada
• Ernst & Young Insights: 54% of global entrepreneurs plan to boost workforce in 2013

We have a fantastic opportunity for you! And the deadline is the 2nd of April! We have teamed up with The Do Lectures to offer you something very special – the chance to attend an ideas festival for people like you who want to start something and make a change.

First things first, we’re asking you to answer just a few questions on our Together page to let us know how you would like to be involved with the support we offer and how we can work together – you’re the experts after all! It’ll take you 20 seconds and then we can move on to the fun stuff…

Are you back? Did you fill it in? Good!

The Do Lectures are all about getting innovators, entrepreneurs and creatives together in one place to share their stories. They were voted as one of the top ten idea festivals in the world by the Guardian, along with TED, South by Southwest and Burning Man.

The UnLtd Giving Chair

We’re thrilled to announce the UnLtd Giving Chair for the next Do Lectures in Wales. This is a unique opportunity for one of our Live UnLtd Award Winners to attend for free! The value of this prize is £1000, and will take you to the beautiful surroundings of Fforest, West Wales from 25^th-28^th April, 2013.

As a winner, you will enjoy three days of listening to amazing speakers from around the world educating you on how to start a business. You’ll have access to 40 mentors via Skype, and get to be a part of a number of workshops.

If that wasn’t enough, as a winner you will be a part of a team that starts a company in the 3 days you are there. There is no event like it! And there is no experience like it, either.

Filmed by a previous Giving Chair Student, Clara Boland, on her iPod Touch.

Apply

Deadline for your short video: 2nd April 2013.

To apply to sit in the UnLtd Giving Chair at The Do Lectures 2013 you must be a Live UnLtd Award Winner over the age of 18. You need to create a 60 second film or photo film on why you should be picked. Tell us about your ambition and burning idea. Tell us why you need to be there. Make it 60 seconds of absorbing viewing.

All submissions should be emailed to info@thedolectures.co.uk with ‘UnLtd Giving Chair’ included in the subject line.

The deadline for submissions is Tuesday the 2nd of April, 2013.

Okay, I’m ready to submit my video! »

More information about how to apply, the terms and conditions and what the Giving Chair includes can be found here.

Top photo credit: Claire Sambrook under Creative Commons.

Related articles

• My Do Day course: “How to build a great brand with very little money”. June 22nd
• SXSW with DJ Mappquest
• Storytelling Is Not Lecturing; Lecturing is Not Storytelling

When I was invited to represent UnLtd as one of three UK ambassadors at an International Study Visit with the British Council Serbia 2013, I was excited! I was energized by the idea of engaging in a global conversation about positive social change.

But when I shared this news with the cashier at my local bank, as I enquired about purchasing some Serbian Dinar, I was asked why – ‘Isn’t that a war torn country? Why would you ever want to visit that part of the world?’ she snarled. This did not scare me! If there is anything I have learnt from the Active Citizens programme, it is to hold my assumptions lightly. And I am glad that I did!

Belgrade reminded me of London. As I walked through the city, I beamed at the recognition of home comforts like Zara, Gap and Mango (Ironically, none of which are even British!). Belgrade is known as one of Europe’s liveliest party cities; like any other metropolis it is a city which never sleeps! But being surrounded by global brands and modern telecommunications did not impress me much, it’s the stuff you can read about in tourist guides and I came in search of something more authentic. So I did not feel as though I was in Serbia, until I was up a mountain, surrounded by trees and housed in a beautiful wooden cabin!

Our dreaded 8 hour drive to the cabin Prijepolie, was made bearable by the picturesque landscape which accompanied us all the way to the top of the mountain. We stopped off for a coffee only to embark on a serendipitous detour, to the Serbian/Norwegian friendship house. It was crafted from the wood of a Norwegian ship, in the style of a traditional Serbian ‘Cafanah’ (similar to a pub/social club). This thoughtful combination of cultures was built to signify friendship between Serbia and Norway after World War Two. Inside, we were treated to a guided tour of the museum which sits above the Cafanah.

Finally we reached the small town of Prijepolie, where we were greeted by a number of inspirational social action projects.

The Superwomen of Prijepolie!

 Please meet… the Superwomen of Prijepolie! As the only woman in my group, it was inspiring to meet the managing directors of a female run and owned television channel; Forum TV. “We were tired of not having a voice, so we decided to make our own”, explains Sanja Malešić (3rd from the left in the picture).

Programmes featured on the channel highlight issues specifically affecting women, alongside more general content. We discussed women’s rights in Serbia and the UK. Despite geographical and cultural distance, the level of appreciation and understanding transcended all of these variants, and unified us all on common ground.

The Hub Centre

Visiting the ‘Hub Centre’, created and run by a group of young people in Prijepolje, was like looking into Beyond The Classroom’s Serbian mirror! Though based in a school, this curriculum supplement programme is far more bespoke and sophisticated than the formal education provided by the state. Young people are not simply given opportunities, they are provided with the skills and tools to seek opportunities themselves!

This (above) is Admir the super energised, quirky, ditsy, Serb. Often away with the fairies, but always with the people! Simply place an ‘e’ at the end of his name to gain an idea of the impact he is having on his community! Admir is a member of the youth parliament and a community youth worker. With this responsibility comes the difficult job of balancing the interests of the young people he supports with political agendas. But Admir is not the only such maverick in Prijepolie…

Edo (above) is an honest, open and passionate youth worker at the Hub Centre. He has little regard for party politics but every motivation to ‘do stuff’! In my opinion Admir, Edo and their colleague Atko epitomise social entrepreneurship. Together they make a formidable team, clearly capable of achieving amazing things!

Overall…

With most participants of the International Study Visit ranging in age from 18 to 30, it is no surprise that the issues highlighted across cultures were similar; often around youth unemployment, insufficient skill development and opportunities for young people. Though our issues seem the same, our experiences are shaped by varying social contexts. There have been language barriers and misconstrued gestures, but it has not been difficult to connect on a meaningful level with people who are all the solution to their own social problems! We are implementing impactful programmes in our respective countries and local communities.

As a person with Ghanian roots, I resonated with the energy, hospitality and culture Serbia has to offer (in particular Prijepolie). But, being in a country where the population of black people is exactly zero was certainly apparent to me. Constantly being stared at, photographed and followed by enthused adolescents, was…uncomfortable. And while my appearance was new, interesting and exciting for some, as an individual it was sometimes difficult to balance the rationale behind this curiosity, with simply being a person. Serbia is not without its problems! And to say that war is not in the very fabric of Serbian culture would be a lie. But I saw communities building themselves, and with a little more infrastructure, there is great economic and social potential here!

As a young British citizen, it reminded me that only we are qualified to deal with our own social problems! And given the space and skill, we have the energy, motivation and drive to do so! This experience was eye opening to say the least, and has inspired me to visit and explore more of the world!

So, what’s next?

For all participants of this unique international study visit, I think it’s safe to say that we will be staying in touch. I have met some incredible change makers over the past week. Collaborations are already in the pipeline; Along with Joel Davis and Luke Rodgers, Beyond the Classroom will be launching a social enterprise initiative before the year is done. So keep your eyes peeled for more exciting programmes.

But for now, I hope you have gained an insight into how Beyond the Classroom and friends went from being locally engaged to globally connected, by sharing best practice about the very different ways we are tackling the same social issues!

The end, of the Beginning!

Amma Mensah runs Beyond The Classroom. She is on a mission to provide schools and youth organisations with theatre and mentoring programmes to support curriculum learning with life skills and knowledge. Find out more at beyondtheclassroom.co.uk

Related articles

• Reflections on Serbia from Luke Rodgers

That’s the challenge that we’re setting you along with Youth Enterprise for this year’s Tenner.

We’re supporting them as they launch Britain’s biggest nationwide competition to find the next great young entrepreneurs with thousands of ten pound loans.

Sir Richard Branson has backed the Tenner challenge, and has recorded a video telling his own story of building his business by selling advertising space from a phone box with a pile of pennies. “When I left school my headmaster predicted I’d either go to prison or become a millionaire,” he says, “Luckily for me his prediction ended up positively.”

“When you’re thinking about what you’re going to do with your tenner, remember: Enjoy it! You must love what you’re doing. Be innovative: create something different that will stand out and look for an idea that will improve people’s lives.”

Take a look at Sir Richard talking about the way he started his business:

Richard Reed from Innocent Drinks has also backed the competition, saying “If I took a ten pound loan, I’d go out and buy £10 worth of fruit and I’d crush it, squeeze it and turn it into juice and smoothies and sell those smoothies for £20. It’s exactly how we started our juice business and I bet Tenner participants can do it too.”

The challenge will be running in schools throughout May this year and registration is open from right now until the 1^st of April 2013.

If you want the chance to turn a tenner into something, you can sign you and your school up at tenner.org.uk.

Luke is a Live UnLtd Award Winner who recently had the opportunity to visit Serbia as part of the Active Citizens programme. This was a chance for young people from around the world to bring their own experiences and gather in one place to talk about creating a real change. “I believe that there is not one person in this world that we cannot learn from,” says Luke.

We sent Luke, Joel, and Amma along to Serbia with the small task of representing the UK! And it was also an opportunity to learn from other young people from around the world and to bring those lessons back with them. We wanted to find out some more from Luke about his experience.

This is what he had to say:

What were you expecting from the trip?

To learn, have fun, meet new people, try new food, but most of all to learn about the culture. I was hoping that I could learn from the projects that are tackling issues.

It’s always useful to bring back new knowledge to our country and test out different ways of working, it keeps things creative and versatile and more importantly gives you a greater chance of making an impact in your area, mine being with under-privileged young people.

Photo by Luke Rodgers

What knowledge did you take with you?

That’s a big question. I suppose I took my own perspective, experiences, beliefs and values. I believe that there is not one person in this world that we cannot learn from. Each time we learn from others, it moulds our own thinking.

Photo by Luke Rodgers

Which skills that you’ve learnt since starting your project do you think helped you in your studies there?

I have learnt about myself. The way that my project works, it means that I am the product. So I’ve learnt about my own strengths and weaknesses.

When it comes to my own project, I took an understanding of how we can support young people. I am a huge believer in giving all young people hope, and showing them a belief that they can achieve anything they want. I think we should look at young people’s stigmas and labels around behaviour. We shouldn’t see behaviour as a problem that needs to be suppressed, but as a message that needs to be answered.

Photo by Luke Rodgers

What surprised you most about your visit?

Two things struck me. The first thing was how parts of the governing systems didn’t seem to support many under-privileged groups, and the second was how personally life-changing the trip was.

The Governing Systems

One of the projects that I visited that worked with homeless Roma children broke my heart. There are 600 reported homeless Roma people in Belgrade, with an estimated 2000 in total. The attitudes towards the community are generally very negative, they suffer racist attacks, physically and verbally on a daily basis. The project provided a place for these kids to drop in, eat, and meet one another.

They had a magazine that they sold where the money supported the project (like the Big Issue does here). It was an amazing place and the people who ran it were so inspirational. They had 8 beds there to allow the children to stay whenever they wanted to give them some warmth, physically and emotionally. But soon after they opened these beds to children the government introduced a policy stating children could not stay there. This was a clear counterproductive policy and in my opinion a case of institutionalised racism.

There are a lot of areas that are in need of legislative development, government attitudes need to be addressed and there needs to be support in place for those who need it.

My feelings weren’t all negative surrounding the country, though. In fact, Serbia is one of the most beautiful and amazing countries I have visited.

Photo by Luke Rodgers

Personally Life-Changing

To meet so many people from different countries was eye-opening and an experience that I find hard to put into words.

When I came back I saw a statistic from ‘V’ Youth Organisation that said 92% of children in the UK don’t think they have enough opportunities. If I had not been to Serbia and had only been exposed to British culture I might have agreed. However, after visiting a country that only recognised and created policy around Youth Organisations in 2007, I see that children do have opportunities in this country, and we cannot deny that.  We need to change our attitudes towards the opportunities we have here. We live in a society that has an amazing education system, free health care, social care, and we need to make the best of every opportunity. The things we sometimes complain about here, across the world someone might be dreaming about.

I am just humbled, privileged and overwhelmed by this experience.

Photo by Luke Rodgers

We’ll be posting about what Amma and Joel thought of their trip soon, so keep updated with us on Twitter and Facebook to be the first to know.

You can find out more about Luke’s project here, and more about the Active Citizens programme here.

Why not check out some of the photos from one our recent bootcamps with inspirEngage below or take a look at some of the other campaigns that we currently have running at www.liveunltd.com.

Caroline, Live UnLtd

Last year, I went to to Kolkata, India with a fellow Development Manager, Kamran. It wasn’t just a holiday! It was part of the Active Citizens programme.

So what’s Active Citizens?

Well, Active Citizens is a global programme run by the British Council in 35 countries, aimed at building trust and understanding between communities locally and globally and working towards sustainable development.

It’s always the case that when you get social entrepreneurs together in the same room, no matter what their age, the atmosphere is energetic and buzzing. And this residential was no exception! So I thought I would share with you a taster of what we covered and hopefully convey some of that energy!

We kicked off with exploring what identity and culture is and got each Award Winner thinking about what their own drive is and where it’s coming from.

After that we explored how we interact with others and the conversations that come from that. In particular looking at conflict and how you would diffuse that.

Then we explored citizenship and the different dynamics of communities when they come together, in particular issues of power, what this means in different areas and at different levels from local to global.

And finally, we looked at what had been learnt and what fresh perspectives our Award Winners might now have which they could apply to their projects.

It was a fantastic weekend with lots of discussion, debate and connections being made. What was interesting about the Active Citizens framework is that it really lends itself to working with individuals as it is starts with reflecting on who you are and your own identity and builds on that towards social action. But also what it does is then connects that to a global network of young people who are working to creating change in their communities.

We got some great feedback, with Award Winners commenting that they really appreciated the chance to make connections and meet other social entrepreneurs. Some reconnected with why they decided to start their project in the first place and went away even more motivated to create change.

What’s happening next?

Well, something exciting is happening! As part of the locally engaged, globally connected theme – in a mere matter of weeks we will be sending 3 Live UnLtd Award Winners on an international study visit to Serbia to connect up with other young people across the globe involved in social action. On the trip will be Luke from Foster Focus, Amma from Beyond The Classroom, and Joel from Tutors United.

A massive thank you to all staff who helped out over the weekend. Your help was invaluable and  enabled us to offer a really meaningful development opportunity for our young social entrepreneurs.

Thanks, Caroline!

Related articles

• “I can do anything if I can do this”
• What’s next for foster care?
• Teaching Social Entrepreneurship
• Social enterprises need a new ‘ecosystem’ of support, says expert
• 8 Tips To Make Your Social Enterprise Actually Work

Scarlett

This week we spoke to Tom Ellis, one of our Award Winners who wrote, directed, and launched his own web series at the end of last year. He’s also planning on getting the second series together this year, as well as taking on some other creative projects.

“Some people are negative about Rhyl,” says Tom of his part of Wales, “and I wanted to do something positive for the area.” After Tom found himself leaving school to be home tutored for health reasons, he also found that there were even more alternative forms of education available to him, including at Tape Community Music and Film. It was there that he was given the opportunity to learn more about filmmaking.

Tom enjoys being creative, and so he decided that he’d try and put together a series of videos as a comedy-drama for the web. And so he created Scarlett, a story of “a high school boy, the girl of his dreams and a Hollywood star.” The series, written and directed by Tom, started in October 2012, and was released on TapeTV.

Check out the first episode:

Read the rest of our post about Tom here.

“I can do anything if I can do this”

We back people to start projects to make a change in their world. As part of what we do we want to create real change for the areas where the projects are started, as well as giving the young people who start their projects a chance to learn new and important things.

This week we took a look back at some of our Award Winners to see what happens after we decide to support them. Here’s a playlist of some brand new videos of some inspiring young people who we are exceptionally proud of!

We also shared some of our recent findings with you. Did you know that 88% of people we asked about running their project said they had developed at least one new skill? Also, 81% said they developed confidence, 79% felt more employable, and 73% saw social entrepreneurship as a future career option.

Head over to the UnLtd site to see a summary report and find out even more about what happens after we back people with a cash Award and the support they need to get their project started.

Or are you looking for even more inspiration? Head to our Projects Page or our Projects Map to find out about some more of our previous Award Winners.

Be a Young Trader!

And finally, we’re still looking for people who want to be a Young Trader!

We’ve teamed up with the National Market Traders Federations (NMTF) to find future entrepreneurs.

You could take part in the first National Youth Market or be crowned Young Trader Of The Year.

If you have an idea for a product or service to sell at a market stall that could benefit your area then we want to hear from you.

Head to our Young Trader page to find out more, or you could get started right now!

Related articles

• “I can do anything if I can do this”
• Live UnLtd Award Winner shares story in new book – Enterprising Child