Make Your Mark Blog

Phil Hope gave a rousing speech at the launch event of the UK Catalyst Awards - the community awards for social technology yesterday at NESTA.

Present were a range of aspiring winners, sponsors, partners, media, interested parties and not least the ‘Talkaoke’ - a doughnut shaped table where people come to have a facilitated debate and discussion.

The minister was especially keen to see a fusion between ‘techies’ in the social media sphere, social entrepreneurs and social activists. Watch this space…

www.ukcatalystawards.com

Who do you imagine when you think ‘entrepreneur’? Richard Branson or Alan Sugar? Fourteen-year-old Joel Drapper could be evidence that a new generation is brimming with entrepreneurial flair.

Joel has a talent for IT and a passion for websites. He has taken his interest and turned it into an enterprising opportunity. By starting the business 1stclasswebsites.com. Joel is planning to use his skill in creating websites to help small businesses and charities, giving them a professional-look presence online. Joel already has some satisfied customers and his fame as a local business man is growing:this week he made it into the local paper. Read the story here:
http://www.bridportnews.co.uk/news/localnews/display.var.2251446.0.it_boy_with_a_head_for_business.php

Joel and his family have already ‘made their mark’ through enterprise:

In December 2007 the family entered a team for the Make Your Mark Challenge, the UK’s largest simultaneous enterprise competition. In the toughest ever year of the contest, the Drapper Family came up with an enterprising solution to the Challenge to ‘make it pay in a globalocal way’ and triumphed as a winner in the South West Regional Final.

Following success in the Make Your Mark Challenge, the family joined the Make Your Mark Club, a network of enterprise clubs run by school and college students. Four children have been developing enterprising ventures and all are making their mark developing new skills and ideas.

Joel used the prize money from the Make Your Mark Challenge to develop his business idea for the website design company and next week he will launch 1stclasswebsite.com on his birthday. Joel has overcome many barriers, including having ADHD, but nothing has stopped him bringing his idea to life.

Joel is a living example of the ways in which young people can make their mark and create real opportunities for themselves. We wish him lots of luck with his venture - he’s a great example to us all!

The Drapper Family Home School is part of the Make Your Mark Club. See enterprising ideas from teenagers all over the UK on the MYM Club website: www.makeyourmarkclub.org

Microsoft have launched research today, which shows that over 80% of small business owners believe that the conditions for starting a business will worsen over the coming year. It also revealed that more than 40% would not encourage others thinking about setting up in business.  What was interesting was that financing projects was not of great concern so it seems that the issue is around confidence rather than money.

I went on some regional radio stations this morning to discuss these points alongside a spokesperson from Microsoft and was keen to point out the following:

• There is a market out there for more than you might think and, whilst entrepreneurs should be careful not to enter a particularly declining market, there will always be a need for innovative products and services
• You have to take risks to be an entrepreneur, no matter what the state of the economy is, so the trick is to manage these risks and take control of your own destiny
• Start small, but aim high. As my friend from Microsoft rightly says it is now possible to set up in business with only a good idea and a laptop based in your bedroom. You don’t always need to chuck your job in and remortgage your house to turn a dream into reality. Who knows you could create the next Google or Facebook which both started in someone’s bedroom!

And bearing this all in mind if you are (hopefully) still keen to take the plunge make sure you get out there and talk about your idea with others. Find people who can help you because a strong support network can get you through the hardest of times.

check out the world’s top bloggers under 21 from retireat21.com - http://www.retireat21.com/blog/top-young-bloggers-under-21/

Clippykit is teaming up with the Make Your Mark Club and we are inviting London girls to take ‘The London Clippykit Challenge’ aimed towards girls in year 9 and 10 (as Clippykit is quite girly – sorry boys!) are going to be asked to use a Clippykit bag to ‘Pocket the Problem’ and for you to come up with your own fab idea.

I am so excited about this competition, I love to see how my bags are customised. Each one always looks completely unique every time. We have never thought about using the bags as part of a challenge to raise money and awareness for a cause before. For more details take a look at www.makeyourmark.org.uk/pocket_the_problem

I can’t wait to see what the groups come up with. I hope all the schools involved will really use their imaginations to make the bags visually exciting to promote the issues.

Veronica Wadley the editor of the London Evening Standard is to be on the team of judges, along with myself (Calypso Rose) and Jude Sutcliffe from Make Your Mark.

There are going to amazing prizes of a Kodak EasyShare 10mega pixels digital camera and £100 to make an idea happen in your Make Your Mark Club for the winning team. If you go to a London school and think this is right up your street, please get in contact.

Calypso

Email to take part club@makeyourmark.org.uk

The 16 year old chocolatier Louis Barnett, founder of Chokolit, has been made an ambassador for the national Make Your Mark campaign. Louis, who employs six staff members at his Bridgnorth factory, said: “It’s fantastic for me. I’ve gone from being a contestant to an ambassador. It’s exactly what I wanted to do - to inspire other young people to go into business.”

As well as being stocked by major supermarkets Waitrose and Sainsbury’s - Louis’ handmade chocolates, which come in edible chocolate packaging, are now set to be given to guests staying in executive suites at Merry Hill’s Copthorne Hotel.

He is also in talks with Tesco, Harrods and Fortnum & Mason’s about getting his chocolates onto their shelves.

Louis Barnett’s inspiring rise to fame will be featured on BBC1’s Inside Out programme on Sunday May 4 at 7.30pm (Midlands). And don’t forget you can now view this programme on BBC’s iplayer even if Louis isn’t in your region’s programme.

Our very own Harry Rich tells Rachel Bridge at the Sunday Times why Make Your Mark is no longer just for the ‘young’ and how he doesn’t believe everybody has the qualities needed to set up their own business.

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/entrepreneur/article3867146.ece

Channel 4’s FourDocs and Mediabox have joined forces for the second year running to offer an exclusive competition for disadvantaged 13-19 year olds to write, direct and produce their own short documentaries. Ten films will be made of which at least one will get a broadcast slot on Channel 4.

The competition launches on Tuesday, 6 May 2008 and aspiring filmmakers should visit www.channel4.com/mediabox to submit a 200-word proposal. The judging panel is looking for unique ideas that will translate well into a 3-5 minute film. The closing date for entries is Monday, 16 June 2008. Ten finalists will receive £500 to create their film and will be assigned a film industry mentor who will guide them through the film making process.

Last year’s winner, 16-year-old Georgina Studd from Greenwich, South London, is soon to be the youngest disabled person to have a documentary broadcast on Channel 4. Her documentary, Georgina Goes Out, follows Georgina, who has cerebral palsy, as she attempts to go out for the day during the summer holidays and was chosen as the clear winner by the judges including prolific documentary filmmakers Nick Broomfield and Molly Dineen.

The ippr are running a competition called ‘Britain’s got Brains’. It’s seeking a new public policy idea that might solve a current problem in the economy, society or political system and genuinely impact on life in Britain today. Entries will be judged by a high level judging panel of politicians, academics and journalists, and winners will have their ideas published by ippr. Further details are available at the ippr website: www.ippr.org/britainsgotbrains.