Redcar & Cleveland school business link is a global social enterprise

6 Jun 2008

Plans are underway for an innovative enterprise project developed by Redcar and Cleveland enterprise team that would see students at a school in Redcar & Cleveland trading with one in South Africa.

Under the scheme, a school in Marske and one in a township in Harrismith would make or buy local products to sell to each other. Any profits from the scheme would be used for community projects or school improvements.

The project aims to give the students the chance to develop real business skills, as well as encouraging creativity in the production of goods to sell.

It is expected that most of the goods will be arts and crafts based, with products from Africa already in big demand. Many are from recycled materials, including tyres, coke cans, trees and beads.

The challenge now is to find local products that will prove a hit in the rural township, which is 120miles west of Johannesburg. As well as relying on their own creativity, the schools will also look to local traders to boost their stock.

Under the plans, each school would trade as a business, and would use the very latest technology such as video conferencing to communicate with each other.

The scheme is being supported in Redcar & Cleveland by the local Enterprise Team, who have had a lot of input in the proposed business model for the project.

If successful, it is hoped that this model could be rolled out to all schools in the Redcar & Cleveland area, each twinning with a school of similar age groups.