The scheme is intended to help local schoolchildren develop their commercial awareness and think about entrepreneurial career options. It also aims to bring young people into contact with university students to inspire them to think about applying to university themselves. One of the schoolchildren, Paul Oakley, said: ‘It was fun and helpful in understanding what is needed to run a business and sell a product.’

The scheme also has benefits for the students involved, as Dave Jarman, Research and Enterprise Development’s Enterprise Skills and Education Manager, explains:  ‘Not only do events such as this generate good feeling towards the University and the role of students in the Bristol community, but they also help our entrepreneurial students hone their own commercial understanding. It is often said that the best way to learn anything is to teach it to someone else, so this is a great way for our budding entrepreneurs to improve their knowledge, sharpen their ability to articulate themselves, and inspire another generation of budding entrepreneurs.’

Three students took part in the event –  Jordan Fish (Computer Science), Lucy Minton (Mathematics) and Sophie Page (Geography). It is hoped that the scheme will develop into a student-run annual programme in the Bristol area, running workshops and enterprise competitions in local schools and hosting a ‘winner of winners’ event where competition winners would be invited to the University for the day.

More information on the Social Enterprise Project and Bristol Entrepreneurs is available online.