High School students in Sheringham have been given the goal of coming up with ideas on how the local economy in the area can be improved. In this task which has been styled like the TV show, ‘The Apprentice’, teams of 13 and 14-year-olds will propose projects which will then be put up against the others. The plans will be judged by Sheringham Chamber of Trade and Commerce’s members and if they have enough merit, the plans may be implemented by the new Coastal Community Team in the town.
The Coastal Community Team was set up in January after a successful bid for government funding that brought them £10,000.
The task will be overseen by David Wallis, the school’s head of business and vocational education. He outlined how the students would go about the project which he says will start with preliminary research which will consider the education, housing, skills and age profiles in the town. Members of the Chamber of Trade and Commerce will provide any guidance and specialist advice required.
The bid for the Sheringham Coast Community was based on the work of various local organisations that collaborated to come up with innovative ways to ensure the centre of town remained vibrant. The task will be a good exercise in business skills according to Andy Bullen, the Sheringham Chamber of Trade and Commerce secretary. In his opinion, the task could even lead up to a project that could be taken a few steps further by the Coastal Community Team. He added that the main purpose of the exercise was to get young people involved in shaping their hometown’s future. He concluded by saying that not all the students will be going away to university in the future and some will be working in the town in the future and for this reason, it was important to have a local community that is vibrant.