Impact Report 21-22

199 2 022 -2 YEARS OF ENTERPRISE EDUCATION IN SCOTLAND

Charity Number SC018180

d n a l t o c S e s i r p r e t n E 2 g 2 n u 1 2 Yo 0 2 t r o p e R t c a p m I l l A r o F e s i r p r e t #En

our m o r f d A Wor utive c e x E f e Chi Our driving and unifying ambition at Young Enterprise Scotland is to enable enterprise for all and, as we reach the end of another year, I reflect and say in confidence that we have taken huge strides forward in achieving our mission.

My belief has always been that enterprise skills and entrepreneurial mindset can be nurtured and developed within young people and what better place for that to happen than in the education arena.

That is why we are delighted that the enterprise option is now available within the Young Person’s Guarantee which aims to connect every 16- to 24-year-old in Scotland to an opportunity and that this is being developed by the Scottish Government with input from YE Scotland.

Enterprise is also one of the activities included within the recently published National Strategy for Economic Transformation (NSET). The NSET includes the promotion of project-based entrepreneurial learning across the school and post-16 education curricula and the development of an entrepreneurial campus infrastructure, working with the college and university sector to establish campuses as hotbeds of start-up creation. YE Scotland is already playing a significant and a critical part in achieving this ambition.

The last year has seen us substantially grow our activity within the Financial Education field and this has been further enhanced by the acquisition of the Stewart Ivory Financial Education Trust (SIFET). The Trustees and I at YE Scotland are grateful to the Board at SIFET for the faith placed in us to grow and evolve their achievements as we launch our very own Scotland’s Financial Schools Portal in the year ahead.

It is true - our strength is in our people: our directors, volunteers, and our staff team.

Together they are helping to make Scotland a place where all young people are given the opportunity to have a rewarding future in work and life - no matter where they start their journey.

With best wishes, Geoff Leask Chief Executive

s e r u g i F Key

Our Impact

Since 1992, we’ve been creating and developing programmes that complement the school and college experience and encourage young people to realise the extent of their own talents.

In our 30th Anniversary year, we have had our most impactful year to date. With the number of young people we have worked with increasing by 91% since the last curricular year.

24,069

465,996

295

19,201

3292

1576

Young People

Young People Inspired

Provided with an introductory learning experience that develops an interest.

Learning Hours

Young People Prepared

Provided with a core learning experience that builds skills, attitudes, and competencies.

Volunteers

Young People Succeeding Supported through an applied learning experience that demonstrates mastery of competencies in the real world.

e d i w d l r o JA W YE Scotland is a proud member of Junior Achievement (JA) Worldwide, one of the world’s largest and most-impactful youth-serving NGOs. JA delivers hands on, immersive learning in work readiness, financial health, entrepreneurship, sustainability, STEM, economics, and more.

JA Worldwide Fellows Programme Mark, a YE Scotland Alumni and our current Interim Chief Operating Officer, was successful this year in being selected to become a JA Worldwide Fellow.

Along with seven other people from Argentina, Hong Kong, Lebanon, Eswatini, Kenya, Egypt and the USA he participated in the third edition of the JA Worldwide Fellows Programme.

The12-month fellowship deepens leadership, mentorship, and strategic skills through monthly virtual leadership training, an in-person development opportunity, and three one-on-one coaching sessions.

Commenting on the experience, Mark said: “Being part of the JA Fellowship has opened the door to a whole new world of opportunity for YE Scotland and myself. It is fantastic to be connected with likeminded people throughout the world. Each of the JA Fellows are truly committed to create positive outcomes for young people through Enterprise Education. It’s been particularly interesting to see how each country wakes up from a global pandemic and how that is effecting our young people. I intend to bring JA Worldwide, its Alumni and resources closer to the operation of YE Scotland.”

JA Worldwide Nominated for Nobel Peace Prize For over 100 years, JA has operated all over the world, including where there is political instability, violence, and war, as well as the unemployment, poverty, and hopelessness that stem from such conditions. By helping youth develop the employment and entrepreneurial tools to find meaningful work and start sustainable companies, JA serves as conduit for peace and prosperity. Through JA, young people are equipped with the mindset and skillset to build thriving communities. This nomination is an incredible honour for YE Scotland and the entire JA network, which includes over 340 local offices in 115 countries.

e c n e l l e c x E f o e r t Cen y r a m i r P e s u o h s s Cro Crosshouse Primary School became the first Scottish Centre of Financial Excellence

We supported Crosshouse Primary School in East Kilbride to become the first school in Scotland to be accredited as a Centre of Excellence in Financial Education.

The school joins a network of over 150 Centres of Excellence already accredited in England and Wales.

They will now share their progressive financial education practice with other schools and continue to receive support from YE Scotland over the next three years.

Gillian Darroch, Scotland’s Financial Schools Manager, said: “We are incredibly proud of the fantastic work that has taken place at Crosshouse Primary. The commitment and

dedication from staff to develop financial education has been inspiring.

Developing financial capability is essential for life, learning and work in a sustainable future and the pupils of Crosshouse Primary are now equipped with these vital skills. Hopefully, this is the start of all schools across Scotland embracing financial education and financial wellbeing.”

“

We feel it is vitally important for our children to develop a broad range of skills, knowledge and attitudes to thrive in a financially evolving society and to prepare them for the responsibility of having to manage their own money. We’ve loved how the children have embraced the programme and we are thrilled to be a Centre of Excellence for Financial Education.”

Jackie Noon, Financial Education Champion, Crosshouse Primary

COP26 y m o n o c E Circular Following COP26 in Glasgow, we were delighted to partner with the My Climate Path educational legacy project to run our Circular Economy Challenge for schools across Greater Glasgow. Over 2000 young people from 6 local authorities developed a circular business idea, learning about green jobs of the future along the way. The project culminated in an exciting showcase final with young participants pitching their ideas to industry experts.

80 pupils from the S1 Business Education cohort at Bellshill Academy in North Lanarkshire participated in the My Climate Path Circular Economy Challenge.

Kirsty Nunn, a newly qualified teacher in Business Education, took part in our teacher’s training session and coordinated the learning sessions across several class groups, supporting her colleagues in delivery of the lessons.

The school was also able to take advantage of an exciting visit to ACS Clothing, a local business who aspire to transform the fashion industry from the traditional linear take-make-

dispose model, towards a circular fashion model that extends the life of existing textiles and diverts clothing from landfill.

Ms Nunn and colleagues rated the pupils’ development of skills for life, learning and work as good, very good or excellent and intend to take part again at the next opportunity.

One pupil said “Some of the main things we enjoyed were making the prototypes, making our powerpoint presentations for our pitches and the fact it was an actual competition and we didn’t know which product/ service was going to win - that was exciting!”

“

The visit was extremely useful for pupil learning and to help them with their ideas. It helped them understand how a circular business operates in real life. I thought the programme and resources were brilliant, easy to understand and provided very useful knowledge for the pupils to have.”

Teacher

n o i t a t i d Accre YE Scotland is delighted to offer a Level 6 SCQF accredited qualification through Company Programme and a Level 3 through Team Programme. All members of 2022 Scottish Company of the Year ‘Stars of the Planet’ from Lochend Community High School completed the Level 6 qualification alongside their Company Programme journey.

Megan Scally, Winner of Finance Director of the Year 2022, describes her experience of Company Programme and gaining the qualification: “A lot of what we were seeing in the media was COP26. So, we thought “why don’t we do a sustainable product”. We then discussed who our target market would be and realised that the upcoming generation would be the best group to target to help fix the problem of climate change. So that’s where we got the children’s book idea!

A skill that I developed through our journey was resilience.

Through the pandemic we faced a lot of challenges such as getting the whole team in at one time and we had to make sure the company was stable, everyone knew what

was going on and deadlines were met. We had to think outside the box to contact our target market remotely through emails and twitter when we couldn’t go into schools in person.

All the people you meet throughout the programme are amazing and you get great opportunities!

You go to events and trade fairs and you meet other teams and industry people that make you feel like you’re more than what you thought you were. It’s really encouraging.

Our Business Adviser was a stable rock throughout the process - she listened to all of our pitch proposals, helped us with our SCQF Moodle work for the qualification, and ran practice interviews. She has really been a hype woman encouraging us but

she’s also brutally honest!

I am going to university in September 2022 to study interior design and the whole Company programme process has helped me gain confidence in myself and believe that I can transfer skills learned here into my future.”

CDN Award h g i H e g n a r g Carron

We were delighted to be awarded the College Development Network Skills Development Award for our collaboration and partnership with Glasgow Kelvin College to develop these new qualifications.

Carrongrange High School in Grangemouth took part in Team Programme for the second year in a row. Their students successfully completed the optional SCQF Level 3 qualification and created a company called School of Sweets.

“

Enterprise skills and an entrepreneurial mindset are the greatest enablers for young people as they progress from the world of education into the word of work. The Team programme is a critical part of the suite of programmes at Young Enterprise Scotland and the recent addition of the SCQF level Three qualification has enabled the young people participating in the programme to gain recognition for their work alongside the skills gained – enhancing the parity of esteem for enterprise education.”

Geoff Leask, CEO, Young Enterprise Scotland

Shelley Procek, Principal Teacher said: “The YE Scotland Team Programme has been such a fantastic addition to our curriculum. Our pupils get the chance to develop vital skills for life and work as they get ready to leave school. I have seen the confidence of my pupils grow and they have really enjoyed the responsibility that running a business has brought. They have also enjoyed being part of the awards events along with everyone else from across the region and nationally and are so proud of their achievements. This is our second year running the Team Programme now and the support from YE is invaluable. I would absolutely recommend to anyone to add this to their timetable, you won’t regret it!”

The School of Sweets participants said about the programme: • “I learned that you can get on with people if you try hard enough and I am more confident” – Shannon • “I’m proud of how successful we’ve been as a company and I’ve improved my work ethic” – Kian • “I learned about being more sociable” – Leah

l l A r o F e s Enterpri We continued to strive for “Enterprise for All” by supporting young people who were not succeeding in the traditional education environment at our exciting Rouken Glen Park Training Centre.

Jennifer, 16, was referred to the YE Scotland Pathways to Enterprise programme by her school Employability Coordinator at St Pauls Secondary School, Glasgow. She was in S5 when she joined the group but had only attended school for about 20% of the academic year. She lacked confidence, motivation and seriously underestimated her own potential.

confidence grew and she started to travel independently each day.

She initially struggled with group interactions and communicating with peers due to being on the Autistic Spectrum. However, being part of a small group at Rouken Glen she coped well with all the tasks asked of her. She also initially convinced herself that she could not travel on her own and needed her brother or Mum to walk with her to the Training Centre. But as the weeks progressed her

During the time at Rouken Glen Jennifer had 100% attendance and was reluctant to leave.

However, by encouraging her through the various visits to college and other learning facilities her confidence grew enough to apply to and complete the Prince’s Trust Development Programme at Glasgow Clyde College.

Jen completed the Emergency First Aid at Work certificate and worked effectively and successfully in a team building day at Dumfries House where she helped to construct an outdoor shelter with her group. She also successfully gained an SQA Unit in Enterprise Activity.

“

I can’t believe how far I’ve come, especially with my confidence I gained at YE Scotland. I am moving onto Gateway to College on Thursday and then onto a BSL course in August. Thank you so much!”

Jennifer

n a e p o r Eu s e r u t n e Adv Thanks to ERASMUS funding over 20 students from West College Scotland, Fife and Dumfries and Galloway colleges went on the enterprise adventure of a lifetime in Barcelona and Amsterdam.

Students travelled to South Holland and Barcelona where they took part in entrepreneurial focused trips, workshops and even shadowed real entrepreneurs.

The trips, supported by our Bridge 2 Business team, focused on building entrepreneurial skills and developing the students’ confidence through enterprise activity. Students not only got to learn invaluable skills to help them start up in business, but also got to create their own business cases in real life contexts.

“I built on my confidence and enjoyed learning and taking skills from all the different entrepreneurs. One of the biggest lessons was how important it is to have a big network!”

West College Scotland student

my biggest learning experience over the trip. I feel like I see myself in a different light in many ways now as opposed to the time when we left for Barcelona.”

Fife College student “We made some real connections for life, really opens a support system and creates a good bunch of friends.”

Fife College student

“

I became inspired to become an entrepreneur myself… It really has made me realise what I want to do!

Thank you for the unforgettable experience.”

West College Scotland Student

“I learnt a lot about myself and how I interact with other people. I feel that was

#FemaleBoss Our #FemaleBoss initiative was back and better than before, aiming to close the gender gap for young women in business.

Students from across Scotland took part in inspiring and empowering sessions to develop their business ideas, skill set and confidence.

“

I think the biggest takeaway for me from this programme is to believe my own work and capabilities, without giving in to the imposter syndrome.

Being on #FemaleBoss has boosted my confidence, and I really enjoyed the pitching challenge.”

Martina Genovese, City of Glasgow College Student

Supported by The Royal Bank of Scotland and Scottish Enterprise the programme saw students from across Scotland come together for 10 sessions to encourage young females in business. The main aim was to inspire, empower, and support female students aged 18-30 years old, into enterprise.

Shannon Collie, a student from Dundee and Angus College has participated in the #FemaleBoss Programme for the past 2 years and this year developed the confidence to pitch her business idea where she was awarded £2,000 and gained support through our mentoring opportunity.

When asked about her experience of #FemaleBoss Shannon said: “I have taken part in #FemaleBoss two years in a row and always learn something new! This session in particular has just been so great! So much information and so much love from the group for you to succeed! I have told everyone about it for next year! It’s an amazing programme run by amazing people making amazing things happen! Thank you so much for the opportunity.”

e l p o e P n i Investors e c i o V h t u o Y This year we joined a distinguished group of 63 organisations in Scotland to hold Investors In People (IIP) Accreditation at Platinum level. This is a reflection of our strong commitment to looking after our people and making sure everyone’s voice that is heard at all levels of the organisation.

Lara McGowan was a participant in the 2018/2019 YE Scotland Company Programme. Since then, she has become a YE Scotland Young Trustee, Chair of the Alumni Board and the event manager for the Scottish Borders Local Area Team.

“The opportunity to become a Young Trustee is a testament to the organisation’s commitment to youth development, understanding their beneficiaries and providing the highest-quality enterprise education they can.

Within my role as a young trustee, I hope to represent the ‘youth voice’ to ensure that the charity’s future direction represents and caters to the ever-changing and often subtle complexities of young people’s needs.

On an individual level, since I started my role, the charity has supported me with my personal and professional development by creating a safe environment where no question is a wrong question. Furthermore, YE Scotland has helped me try new things and step outside my comfort zone, ultimately building my confidence.”

n i g n i t s Inve s r e e t n u l Vo We achieved the Investing in Volunteers standard this year - a demonstration of how much the contribution of our volunteers is valued at YE Scotland. The accreditation gives current and potential volunteers confidence in our commitment to providing an outstanding volunteer experience.

We celebrated and thanked our volunteers as part of the Festival of Youth Enterprise in June and awarded Matthew Reid as our Volunteer of the Year 2022.

Matthew is Chair of the Orkney Local Area Team but has also recently undertaken the roles of Secretary and Treasurer. Nominated by his fellow volunteers, who spoke about his exceptional commitment to the future of Young Enterprise in Orkney and how he goes above and beyond what is expected. He is regarded by his team as selfless, dedicated, accommodating, informative and helpful. He is a remarkable person and is well deserving of the Volunteer of the Year Award.

i n m u l Our A Alongside our 30th anniversary celebrations, we have been reaching out to our Alumni network which spans the length and breadth of the country and includes people working in every employment sector.

Bayile Adeoti is an alumni of the Company Programme and a founding member of our Alumni Board. Bayile has volunteered her time this year to help create a programme of events and resources designed to support and upskill Alumni after they finish the Company Programme. She featured in our ‘Audience with our Alumni’ webinar series and has been a driving force behind plans for our 30th anniversary celebrations.

Bayile also volunteers as a Business Adviser, supporting a team on the Company Programme in Lanarkshire. As a guest speaker at the Scottish Finals last year she told the inspirational story behind the creation of Dechomai, her social enterprise which supports Black and Ethnic Minority female entrepreneurs, through high-quality business education. She appeared in YE Scotland’s #FemaleBoss YouTube mini-series and shared her business journey as a #FemaleBoss panellist. Due to this generous commitment to YE Scotland, Bayile received the Outstanding Contribution to Young Enterprise Scotland 2022 Award at the Festival of Youth Enterprise.

s r o d a s s a b m A r Ou Young Enterprise Scotland ambassadors are high-profile individuals who support the work of the charity in a positive light. They embody the work of the charity by understanding its ethos, to transform the lives of young people in Scotland through exploring their entrepreneurial potential and developing the skills they need to be successful for work and for life.

“YE Scotland provides young people across Scotland with a fantastic and unique opportunity to learn and develop skills that will enable them to reach their full potential.

By inspiring them and giving them the tools, they need, YE Scotland gives young people the chance to have a successful future.”

Poonam Gupta OBE

“Getting enterprise education right brings social and economic benefit – it is about Inspiration, Aspiration, Education and opportunity. If we do that then we have a recipe for success.”

Peter Proud

“Enterprise education should be deeply embedded - it is a risk to see it as an optional extra. It must be seen as an educational imperative alongside other academic subjects. Education should be multi-stranded, with each strand entwined – think of a rope, the more strands the stronger it is. It has to be part of the education experience. The value of entrepreneurial thinking is that it is about problem solving. It also embraces diversity of thinking, encourages different views and embracing this has real value.”

Professor Sir Jim McDonald

Fur ther .. . n o i t a m r Info

Young Enterprise Scotland is a national charity that supports the next generation to gain the enterprising mindset, skills and confidence to start their working life with the attitude and desire to succeed.

We have the ambition, knowledge and vision to reach thousands of young people, but we can’t do it alone. As an independent charity, we rely on our passionate and dedicated staff and volunteer team as well as our partnerships with schools, funders and supporters. A big thank you to all those who have supported us to deliver to over 24,000 young people this year.

To support our work by making a donation or to find out more visit www.yes.org.uk

Young Enterprise Scotland is a Scottish Charity (SCO18180) regulated by the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR) and a Company Limited by Guarantee (Scotland 133649). Registered office: Rouken Glen Park, Rouken Glen Road, Glasgow, G46 7UG