Youth Enterprise Scotland
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Contents |
What is YES?
Youth Enterprise Scotland (YES), a registered charity in Scotland with limited liability, has operated throughout Scotland for over 30 years. Working towards their vision of offering all young people in Scotland the opportunity of undertaking a learning experience that will help them develop valuable skills and know-how that will prepare them for a better future.
YES works together with schools, educationalists, and business volunteers, delivering a practical learning programme that offers its participants hands-on experience in the world of business, economics, entrepreneurship, and self-employment. This programme is not restricted to any particular level of academic achievement; YES also works with young people who are disengaged with school and those who are not achieving their full potential for a variety of reasons. The YES volunteers are especially committed to providing opportunities to those young people who have become marginalised through a lack of engagement or attainment within school; YES offers support to these, and all, students, helping them to progress to further education or training, or else directly to employment. They also work outwith educational institutions, particularly in Young Offenders institutions and secure residential establishments.
Accredation
All YES programmes are recognised by SQA as providing suitable learning/teaching material to support Scottish Progression Awards in Enterprise and Employability Intermediate Levels 1 and 2.
Safety
All new board members, business advisers, and link teachers on the local area boards or who are involved with the programmes have to be put through the CRBS (Disclosure Scotland) checking process. There is no cost to new volunteers and YES will issue forms to new volunteers.
Impact of YES Programmes
In the 2007/2008 academic year, YES worked with over 30,000 young people across Scotland, providing a total of over 350,000 hours of contact time with them; over the past few years they have been extending this attention to more and more students and young people. The various seminars and programmes, specifically the Company Programme, offer young people an understanding how business works, as well as the opportunity to develop a variety of business and management skills, and a number of other skills which will be beneficial to them in every area of their life. These skills include:
- Team-working abilities
- Communication skills
- Time management skills
- Inter-personal skills
- Responsibility
- Willingness to take initiative
- Motivation, enthusiasm, and, perhaps most important, self-confidence
Company Programme
The Company Programme takes place over a period of slightly less than eight months and allows students to work in a variety of positions as, in a group, they set up and run their own small business in a safe environment. Each business holds a weekly meeting during which time they are offered the support of a volunteer adviser from a local business. The students raise share capital to finance the company, and then design and manufacture a product or service to offer to the public. They typically sell their product or service at YES Trade Fairs, and close out the experience with an annual report, full set of trading accounts and a formal shareholders' meeting.
The Company Programme offers students the opportunity to experience key business functions first-hand, such as marketing, sales, handling personnel and finance, and so forth. They also frequently find role models in their business advisers, which encourages higher aspirations for their own future; participants leave the programme work-ready and employable, while many develop aspirations of self-employment.
The programme costs only £100 per team, and registration is available [www.yes.org.uk on-line]. As schools register the information is stored so that each local area board is up to date with the school registrations in their area.
Awards Event
Each year in June, Young Enterprise Scotland holds a national awards ceremony where winners from the local area board awards ceremonies gather to showcase their work and interact with other groups from across Scotland. The final award is the Best Company in Scotland award, the winner of which continues on to compete in the Best Company in the UK award, and potentially competing against Young Enterprise companies from other countries.
Business Advisors
YES business advisers don't necessarily need to be established entrepreneurs or business-owners. Anyone interested in developing their own management skills and broadening their knowledge base by gaining a sense of how a business functions can apply to get involved. Essentially, advisers should have enthusiasm, the ability to commit to the time required, and a willingness to share their knowledge with young people. It would offer you the chance to work alongside another adviser from a different background, as well as the opportunity to observe first-hand the process by which a venture is established and grows over time.
There are few requirements for becoming an adviser:
- Time commitment - typically one hour per fortnight (weekly if time permits) during term time, either during or after school, for the period of an academic year
- Disclosure Scotland check, as you will be working with young people
If you are interested, get in contact with your local area board; they will send you practical information about the role you will be undertaking as business adviser. In addition, any geographic preference or other preference that you might have can be taken into account in the process of matching you up with a company team.
Your knowledge and experience will help benefit the next generation of entrepreneurs and business men and women, and you, too, will benefit from their experience. You will develop business acumen, as well as a greater understanding of conflict management within the business environment. You will become more familiar with real-life market research, customer care policies, and customer focus. In addition to this, you will develop leadership skills which will be very useful in the launching of your own venture, such as the ability to negotiate, and to work with and direct others calmly, fairly, and compassionately. You will also become more familiar with I.T. systems and how to use them to a better advantage.
More Information
For more information on the programmes offered by YES and how you can get involved, to find your local area board website, or for registration information for the company programme, visit the Young Enterprise Scotland webpage here.
If you live in the Lothian area, find out more about the Youth Enterprise Scotland - Lothian Area Board
