Founded by Matt Stewart, Entrepreneur Me has been inspiring children across the world for over 20 years, with its latest cohort of schools in Barnsley, Sheffield and Rotherham.

The project, “Enterprise in the Business,” spans eight weeks, dedicating one day to inspire students, teachers, and parents on how to pair entrepreneurship with community values.

During these sessions, students receive £25 to create products and tackle various challenges, with profit champions announced at the end of the day.

For the remaining weeks, students implement their own business plans, using real money to make a profit. Any money made from the project is to be given away to the community cause of their choice.

Having collaborated with UKSE for over a decade, Matt applied for a kickstart grant from UKSE – a local investment company that provides up to £1.5 million to growing businesses – which helped fund the full day programme in school.

Lisa Avery, an expert in positive psychology and coaching psychology, recently joined the Entrepreneur Me team, enhancing the program with her expertise.

Commenting on the expansion of the program, Chief Executive Matt Stewart said: “We are fortunate to have the support of UKSE, which has been instrumental in bringing our vision to life in South Yorkshire, with sessions scheduled from the beginning of June into July.

“By instilling entrepreneurial skills early on, we aim to foster social change and community development.”

Steve Lyon, Regional Manager at UKSE, said: “UKSE is proud to support Entrepreneur Me in delivering this innovative program to South Yorkshire schools.

“The encouragement of entrepreneurship with community at its core is fully aligned to the ethos here at UKSE, we wish them the best moving forward with the program!”

UKSE provides loans and equity finance of up to £1.5m to existing growing businesses, particularly those creating jobs – for further information, please contact the team on 0114 2700 933.