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Well over a fifth of Northern Ireland’s young people are struggling to find employment, many young people now believe that there is only hope of employment via difficult commutes, relocation or even the expense of emigration.
We believe that it’s time for some fresh thinking!
The Rural Development Council (RDC) and Advantage are partners in the delivery of an exciting opportunity; the ‘Rural Youth Entrepreneurship’ (RYE) programme. Designed to raise awareness of self-employment as an option, the programme supports 16 to 30 year olds to identify business ideas and consider if self-employment could work for them.
As part of the programme, we offer free interactive workshops covering three modules; these can be delivered during the day or in the evening depending on the needs of your group.
Workshop 1 – “The Big Idea!”
In this workshop, young people will generate business ideas personal to them, and learn the techniques to generate hundreds more. During this highly interactive 3 hour session they will be taught creative techniques, methods for innovation and entrepreneurial skills. Young people will learn how rural businesses can be successful and will also learn how to maximize the resources they already have. Participants will leave the workshop inspired and ready to take the next step on their enterprise journey.
Workshop 2 – “The Drawing Board”
In this session participants will explore their idea further, they will be introduced to “The Drawing Board”, they will sketch out how their idea could make money, and consider some pitfalls faced by entrepreneurs. As well as considering their customers, competitors and finances, they will receive feedback from the RYE team and their peers on how their idea could be developed and improved. “The Drawing Board” techniques can be quickly applied again and again to all business ideas the young people may have now or in the future.
Workshop 3 – “ The First Steps”
In this workshop the participants will be provided with an individual pack containing information specific to the sector they are interested in i.e. Retail, Agri-Food, Fashion, Engineering or Tourism from this with the help of the RYE team they will be able to add detail to their Drawing Board. That’s not all! Participants will also be able to access our ‘RYE online toolkit’. This exclusive toolkit will provide formative business action planning tools and vital rural-proofed and industry specific resources; crucial for those young people who want to continue to build on their own business idea.
Each young person who completes all three workshops will receive a RYE Certificate and will be signposted to organisations in Northern Ireland who can help them to progress their idea to the next stage. They will also be able to participate in additional activities:
Optional Extras
- Networking events – where they will hear from other young people who have started a business.
- Master classes, study visits and seminars on topics chosen by the young people i.e. social media, finance and marketing.
We are keen to offer these completely free interactive workshops to you and your young people to help them understand entrepreneurship and self-employment, and explore possibilities they may have never even presumed possible.
Workshops will be allocated on a first come basis to eligible areas. Each community group is required to pre-register a minimum of 10 participants for the programme to take place.
Thank you for your consideration, if you require further information please contact:
Gillian Maxwell Gail Lees
Communications and Outreach Officer Programme Officer
Email: gmaxwell@rdc.org.uk glees@rdc.org.uk
Mobile: 07841100523 Mobile: 07568184414