BY Lucy Bannister | Wednesday 9 March 2022
The new Youth Enterprise Ambassadors will help more young people become their own boss
Four young entrepreneurs from Hull have been recruited by Hull City Council and Hull Culture & Leisure to become Youth Enterprise Ambassadors to encourage other young people to develop enterprising ideas.
The four have been appointed to promote the Making Changes for Careers (MC4C) programme, which offers enterprise skills training and business support services to young people from Hull who are not in full-time employment or training. They will also advise of future activities and programmes, as well as visit schools and colleges in order to inspire others and represent the views of young entrepreneurs to the council's Future You programme.
Becca Pettman of Gray Rose Boutique, Georgia Wormald of Fairy Tale Face Paints, James Danville DJ and owner of Room 73 and Sammy Gibson of Beautilocks and Creations Galore will promote opportunities for young people to learn about enterprising skills and develop ideas. The chosen four have all engaged with MC4C and have successfully progressed into self-employment in their own right with the support of Hull City Council.
Councillor Daren Hale, Leader of Hull City Council said: “It is brilliant that four young people have been selected to promote in general the council’s commitment to micro-businesses and young entrepreneurs in particular.
“I have no doubt they will be great ambassadors not only for youth enterprise, but for the city as a whole, so thank you Becca, Georgia, James and Sammy for your enthusiasm and commitment. You are all a great credit to the city and part of our commitment to community wealth being as you are integral to our current and future economic success.”
Becca Pettman of founder Gray Rose Boutique said: “I’m honoured to be asked to be a youth enterprise ambassador for Hull, as part of my role I will highly recommend the council's youth enterprise programme MC4C to other young people like me that need a little bit of support to realise their dreams. I was pleased to receive a number of grants for my business from the John Cracknell Youth Enterprise Bank to help start me up and access to wide range of advice and support from a very supportive team. They were always there for me and have given me the opportunities to outline my business journey in high profile events in Global Entrepreneurship Week and Micro Biz Matters Day.”
Georgia Wormald of Fairy Tale Face Paints said: "I want to inspire and help other young people to start their own business. I believe there is so much potential out there in our communities and MC4C certainly makes your business aspirations a reality. I know without the help and guidance from Hull City Council's MC4C Programme I would not be running my own business. I lacked the confidence and did not believe it was even possible. I had no business skills, just my love for anything creative and the dedication to learn."
Sammy Gibson of Beautilocks and Creations Galore said: "I was really pleased to be asked to be a Youth Enterprise Ambassador.
“I started off with a hobby making hair bows and personalised frames alongside working at a busy salon. Then during lockdown, I was on maternity leave and was no longer able to go back to my job in the salon due to restrictions and not enough hours for me when salons where allowed to re-open. So I started to expand my hobby and make wax melts and soaps. One of my customers had mentioned the council's youth enterprise programme MC4C to me and I had the pleasure of taking part in the programme.
“If it wasn't for MC4C I wouldn't know anything about taxes and my knowledge of business skills and confidence increased. I decided to re-brand my small business into something snappy which became Creations Galore. I then pursued my dream of having my own salon – I opened Beautilocks Hair and Beauty Salon with a friend. Working for myself has been the best thing for me because it means I can work around my family life and be able to take and pick my children up from nursery and school."
James Danville DJ and owner Room 73 said: "As a youth enterprise ambassador, I want to make young people aware of the Council's MC4C programme so they, like me, can start their own business. Starting a business by yourself can be very daunting and sometimes confusing. With MC4C, I feel like I had help whenever I needed it, which gave me confidence and self-belief in what I was doing. I would advise any aspiring young entrepreneur to use their services and I am looking forward to speaking to young people about the joys of being your own boss."
