Carolyn Hassan, Director of Knowle West Media Centre, on enterprise education
“Enterprise education has huge potential for young people from disadvantaged areas. Many don’t do well at school for a variety of complex reasons but are creative and entrepreneurial. They’re also, often by necessity, very keen to earn money and willing to take risks – a key characteristic of a successful entrepreneur.
To be successful, support and opportunities have to be offered to young people in informal settings – places where they feel comfortable and have some sense of ownership. I also think there are different ways of learning. In my experience many young people learn best by seeing others from their community achieve and by doing something ‘real’. For example, our N’Large Photography group is setting up a business taking photographs for businesses and organisations on commission. So for me real opportunities to try things out, support from within young people’s communities and access to inspirational role models are all key factors.
In terms of social mobility, I think we should recognise that many young people don’t necessarily want to leave their family and friends behind but that they would like to see their communities no longer ‘disadvantaged’. When these young people become entrepreneurs they are likely to contribute to positive social and economic change in their community. I believe that providing support for young entrepreneurs living in disadvantaged areas is likely to be more effective in creating positive change than encouraging outside investment from businesses with little commitment to the people in the community.”
Carolyn Hassan is Director of Knowle West Media Centre (KWMC). She has overseen the development of the project from a photography residency that looked at the relationship between health and arts, to an organisation of 16 people delivering an extensive creative programme to people in South Bristol. KWMC will shortly be moving to new premises, a purpose built community media centre constructed from straw bales. Young people have been at the heart of developing the building including having recruited the architects and contributed to the design brief. Carolyn has worked as a photographer with many different community groups, and has taught in a range of settings.
Next steps
This viewpoint was part of our Future Face of Enterprise Report, published in 2008
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Knowle West Media Centre was 2007 regional winner of the Enterprising Britain competition. Read KWMC’s inspiring story.
