Encouraging
Enterprise
The best part of Foróige’s Youth Entrepreneurship Programme, NFTE, is the young people who take part, brimming with ideas, energy and creativity. Ireland needs entrepreneurs like never before and what NFTE does, like no other youth programme, is tap into their can-do attitude and enthusiasm. Giving young people the skills they need to reach their full potential is what NFTE is all about.
In May 2011, the Youth Entrepreneurship Awards took place at The Helix in Dublin. 700 young go-getters were honoured for their participation in the programme. There could only be one overall winner however and that was Kyle McMahon from Coolock in Dublin. The judges were really impressed with Kyle’s business called ‘Kyle’s Woodcrafts’. The talented 18 year old continues to make and sell wooden toys.
Through NFTE he also got the opportunity to showcase his work at an event for young entrepreneurs from all over Europe in Vienna. He also exhibited at the prestigious annual National Crafts and Design Fair in Dublin’s RDS.
“ The NFTE programme has actually changed my life. For a while I was going down the wrong path but now everything seems possible. The experience has been amazing. It’s only now I realise that people are there to help if only you’ll let them. School just wasn’t for me, but I was always great with my hands and through Foróige I now have a chance to really make something of myself,” says Kyle.
Like any good business idea, NFTE has plans to expand. In 2012 and 2013 the programme will begin operating in Galway, Mayo, Sligo and Roscommon.
Overview
Foroige’s Youth Entrepreneurship Programme, NFTE (Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship) is a world recognised youth entrepreneurship education and development programme that originated in the USA and was brought to Ireland in 2004. The management of NFTE was taken on by Foróige in 2009. NFTE is committed to changing the lives of young people by enabling them to develop skills in business and enterprise, and in doing so helping them to unlock their individual talents and potential. NFTE’s in-school and out-of- school programmes have both been successful in building self confidence and interpersonal skills in young people as well as increasing school completion and college attendance rates. NFTE operates in 40 locations across Dublin, Limerick, Cork, Donegal, Tipperary and Belfast.
