News

‘Go Succeed’ helps entrepreneurs of the future to unlock their potential

Tuesday 12 November 2024

Students from Northern Regional College recently embarked on an exciting series of activities as part of Go Succeed - Northern Ireland’s free Business Support Service.

From L-R: Stephen McCartney, Head of Student Experience, Northern Regional College Joanne McCourt, PL Entrepreneurship & Innovation / Entrepreneurship Hub manager FE sector, Northern Regional College Karen McLeod, Curriculum Development Lead - Entrepreneu

Organised by local councils, the inspirational entrepreneurial activities will take place in Ballymena, Coleraine, Magherafelt and Newtownabbey.

The first of four ‘Innovation Camps’ kicked off in the Mid and East Antrim Borough Council area in October at the Trostan Avenue Campus in Ballymena.  The ‘Innovation Camp’ involved groups of students who were presented with a number of key problems impacting the local or global community and set the challenge to develop innovative solutions.

Facilitators and experts were on hand to take student groups through a series of exercises to design, create, test and pitch solutions to tackle the challenges. Students were tasked with working in groups to pitch their idea to the experts, with a chance to win some fantastic prizes.

The programme of entrepreneurial activities was designed in collaboration between Mid and East Antrim Borough Council, Antrim & Newtownabbey Borough Council, Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council and Mid Ulster District Council alongside Northern Regional College and Young Enterprise NI. The activities will encourage and support future entrepreneurs and develop creativity and innovation in the talent pipeline, that will inspire and encourage entrepreneurship in the student population after graduation.

The final sessions will take place across all four campuses between December 2024 and March 2025 and will allow students to ‘meet the entrepreneur’ and secure behind the scenes experiences aimed at specific faculties to explore the self-employment/business creation opportunities available. Students will hear from local entrepreneurs on their journey - from idea to start-up to success.

The event series is delivered as part of Go Succeed and was delivered by Mid and East Antrim Borough Council in partnership with Norther Regional College and Young Enterprise NI.  Go Succeed is funded by the UK Government, and supports entrepreneurs, new starts and existing businesses at every stage of their growth journey. 

For more information about the service, and how to register, visit the Go Succeed website.