Young people in Hull looking to develop enterprise skills or set up businesses can get help from £575,000 in new funding.
Hull City Council’s award-winning Making Changes for Careers Programme (MC4C) has received the funding as part of the Humber Learning Consortium European Social Fund (ESF) Youth Employment Initiative.
It will be spent in the city over the next four years to develop the business aspirations of young people.
MC4C – which was highly commended at the Enterprising Britain Awards – helps young people develop their enterprise skills using the Big 13 Enterprise Skills. It has already helped more than 130 young people since being set up two years ago, resulting in 36 new businesses being set up.
The project was due to end this summer – but the new funding will ensure it now continues until 2022.
Councillor Daren Hale, Deputy Leader of Hull City Council, said: “As a council, we have a commitment to enable all young people who wish to develop their business idea to find the support they need to achieve their goal.”
Ben Robinson, owner of PreHistoric Hull, which helps people to learn about reptiles, said: “The experience at MC4C has changed my life. I went from a guy that had no hope to a guy that feels like life is limitless. With the help of MC4C, I turned my life around.”
Charlene Genter, owner of Charlene’s Crafty Creations, said: “I was one of the first people to have joined MC4C. I was told by people I didn’t have what it took to become self-employed, but from day one at MC4C, I was welcomed with open arms and was told anything is possible if you try.”
Other organisations to support the programme until 2022 include the John Cracknell Youth Enterprise Bank, One Six One, the THUDYorkshire networking group of young entrepreneurs, University of Huddersfield and Hull and East Riding Youth Enterprise Partnership, as well as a number of mentors from Hull’s business community.
The MC4C team, along with their ambassador team, will undertake a series of roadshows in St Stephens Centre, North Point Shopping Centre and Princes Quay, and also join up with Hull City Council mobile councillor surgeries.
Find out more about MC4C at www.mc4c.co.uk or call (01482) 616219.