A 200-strong gathering of The Prince’s Scottish Youth Business Trust volunteers from all over Scotland will meet in Perth tomorrow to share best practice and new ideas that will help young entrepreneurs aged between 18 and 25 years establish and sustain successful businesses.
Sustainability is the theme of this year’s PSYBT volunteer conference and ScottishPower, sponsor of the event, is launching a peer to peer business mentoring workshop.
Volunteers attending the conference will be selected to attend the workshops which are due to take place later in the year.
Commenting, Ann Loughrey, head of CSR at ScottishPower, said: “We are delighted to be able to support the important work of volunteers through our sponsorship of PSYBT’s volunteer conference as part of our on-going commitment to the organisation.
“We will also be presenting at the conference tomorrow.
“Our focus is to give an insight into ways in which PSYBT volunteers and mentors can help the young people’s businesses they support become more sustainable through energy efficiency and to think about their own skills that can inspire young people to unlock their potential and have the confidence to take the next step in growing their business.”
PSYBT volunteers who run their own businesses will also deliver interactive workshops to help their peers learn more about popular topics such as social media.
David Wallace from Edinburgh is providing practical advice and cost-effective marketing ideas on how to win and retain customers.
Following 20 years developing and implementing marketing strategy, he founded his own marketing consultancy in 2006, called Strategy Point, which advises businesses of all sizes in a wide variety of sectors including waste management, oil and gas services, retail and recruitment.
He is also an aftercare advisor to four young entrepreneurs aged between 18 and 25 years old who have set up their own businesses.
Explaining what he has gained from being a PSYBT volunteer, he said: “Young people that we see coming through PSYBT’s doors want to take responsibility for their lives and they want to go out there and make a go of things.
“Quite often, they’ve not had the same privileges as other young people their age and yet they are driven by strong determination to succeed.
“They inspire me greatly and I personally find it very rewarding and a privilege to help them help themselves to achieve their business ambitions.”
PSYBT supported entrepreneurs will also be at the Perth Concert Hall tomorrow talking informally of their experiences with volunteers and invited guests.
They include Kirsten Dunnett, founder of Missy La La’s Boutique in Dundee; Jeweller Zoe Duthie of Zoe Duthie Contemporary Designs in Forfar; Kinross based chocolate maker Laura Cuthbert; John McRitchie of McRitchie Traditional Carpentry; Aaron Simpson of Vteam Scotland – both from Dunfermline; Soap maker Rachael McLean of Sweet Peacock, Sam Sparrow of Sparrow & Co who supply stunning household gifts, both from Glasgow and Tayside based Matthew Cherrie of Nemaca Furniture Assembly.
Ends
Issued by Jen Nash of Panache Communications, Tel. no: 07971 466 220, email: jen@panachecommunications.co.uk. For further information contact Margaret Gibson and Emma Fitzpatrick of PSYBT on 0141 248 4999. You can also check out the PSYBT website at www.psybt.org.uk.
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Contact: Jen Nash
Phone: 07971 466 220
Email: jen@panachecommunications.co.uk
Website: http://www.panachecommunications.co.uk
