Business and Social Enterprise

Over the past year We have been developing a Business and Social Enterprise project. Learners on the Improving Choices programme have been designing and creating crafts and gifts to sell on a market stall. To date they have run 4 stalls throughout the year in Bedford Town Centre. All profits have been donated to our charity partners in Sierra Leone.

The Business and Social Enterprise project offers a wide range of learning opportunities integrated within the programme including:

• Literacy and IT skills - through creating marketing for the business
• Numeracy skills - through keeping record of the accounts and running the stall
• Creative thinking - in the development and display of the products
• Confidence building - through interactions with each other, sharing ideas and working on the stall with member of the public
• Team working skills - working closely as a team to get the produce made and to share out the different tasks.
• Vocational skills - experiencing first hand how to develop and run a small business.

All these skills are underpinned by a suite of qualifications that are accredited by the National Open Network from Entry level to Level 2.