28 October 2009
Downpatrick Trainee Joiners, Mark Hawthorne and David Carson, who attend South Eastern Regional College (SERC), recently won a Young Enterprise competition held at the College. They put their minds together and came up with a children’s toy to improve hand-eye coordination for primary school kids and those suffering from dyslexia. A hand held, cup-like device will shoot a ping-pong ball up into the air and the child had to try and catch the ball in the cup before it hits the ground. Over fifty students entered the competition, which was organised by the College’s Business Innovation and Development Unit in conjunction with Young Enterprise Northern Ireland. The idea behind the competition was to get students thinking about enterprise and to provide a platform for entrepreneurial students to showcase their ideas. The College will be holding further events designed to help young people to develop their enterprise capability through increasing knowledge, enhancing skills and fostering entrepreneurial attitudes. Geraldine Boden, SERC Enterprise Champion and Trainee Monitoring Officer for Mark and David had this to say, “I’m really pleased for the boys, it’s a great start to their time with the College. They came up with a great idea and proved they are very enterprising young men who have a bright future ahead of them.” On winning the competition Mark commented “Geraldine is the real inspiration behind winning this competition, before we entered she promised us £200 each if we won…we’re still waiting for the cheque!”
