Groundbreaking youth enterprise project leading the way in the Big Society

These young people aren’t the leaders of the future, they are already leaders now.
This is how Stephen Nze, Project Leader, describes the group of young people he has been working with at Tiber, a youth led capital development project in Toxteth, Liverpool.

The group have raised an incredible £19,500 to start up a community business. Work started last month on the transformation of an outdated porta-cabin in Lodge Lane. It is being transformed into a multi use business premises and meeting centre. Nine rooms including a meeting room will be available for individuals or small businesses, offered at local market rents.

What’s even more incredible is that most of the group are still at school. The group, aged from 13 to 18 not only designed the building, but had to get their head around legal matters and planning permission, developing a business plan, child protection issues, finance, marketing and fundraising.

Social landlord Riverside and The Young Foundation have funded training for the young people involved in the project, which aims to develop young people so that they can contribute to the social and economic regeneration of the Toxteth community.

The group worked with business mentors and gained accreditation in enterprize prior to setting up their business, so they had a grounding of all aspects of its development.

Young people from all different backgrounds formed the project, after a successful recruitment drive at local schools and community centres. Their roles in the team were mostly self appointed, with each member taking responsibility for a different area, such as market research.

Pupils from local schools and colleges form the bulk of the group, but even students such as Josh Ramsden, 13, had a massive part to play. Although he attends a boarding school, he returns to help out whenever possible.

Mark Browne is a Riverside Community Engagement Officer working in South Liverpool. He is happy to be supporting the project. He said: “The dedication, commitment and energy from the young people involved in this innovative project is amazing. I’m sure they will go on to be the business leaders of the future”.

Architects, interior designers and structural engineers all gave their time for free and worked with Tiber to create professional working drawings and plans. The building is located on the five acre Tiber site on Lodge Lane. It will be ready for business use next month.

Stu Thomason, from the Young Foundation, said: “The Youth of Today’s Leadership Programme assessed 775 grant applications, in which only 37 gained funding for developing leadership opportunities.”
“Tiber were successful because they presented a proposal showing that the organisation already had an existing youth leadership structure in place.”

Many businesses have already started to make enquiries but they have to prove that they offer a service that provides sports, arts or services that enhance the local community. Stephen said, “We’ve had enquiries from music production companies and artists. Creative industries seem very interested but all are welcome, as long as their services benefit the local community.”

The group also recently took part in a leadership course at Durham Business School in order to increase their leadership skills.
Dr Bill Snaith, Director of the Management Development Centre, said: “It was a real pleasure to work with these young leaders. At Durham Business School, we are used to working with some of the most talented business professionals in the UK and Europe. The enthusiasm and potential demonstrated by the young leaders from the Tiber project makes us confident that they'll go on to great success in the future.”

If interested in renting a work space, please call Project Leader, Stephen Eze on 0151 726 8099 or email him at: nze@tiber.org.uk