Sandy beaches, glistening sea and beautiful coastlines inspired creative students at Coleg Gwent’s Ebbw Vale Campus when they recently created products and gifts from recyclable materials as part of the Young Enterprise Wales Team Award scheme.
The team of 5 Independent Living Skills (ILS) students turned their hand to making and selling driftwood crafts for the scheme, which is designed to help students with learning difficulties experience the world of work through enterprise.
Students made 42 beach hut key holders and 20 ship-shape key holders all with recyclable materials. The team set up the business and marketed their own products with handmade items such as tea towel hooks, decorative stones, candle holders and greetings cards, raising £300 towards the project.
Speaking about the project, ILS tutor Helen Griffey said: “The award scheme provides an opportunity for them to experience all aspects of setting up a small business. Students did brilliantly and produced some fantastic environmentally friendly products. They also showed great initiative when coming up with funding ideas such as selling products at the Christmas fair, and running a tuck shop at the campus.”
The group recently attended the Young Enterprise Wales Awards of Excellence at Ty Penallta Ystrad Mynach, where students gave a presentation based around the themes which inspired their products.
