The National Craft & Design Fair takes place on Dec 4th - 8th at the RDS, Dublin. Up to 125 of Foróige's young entrepreneurs have been invited to come along and sell the products they have created as part of the Foróige NFTE Youth Entrepreneurship programme. These talented entrepreneurs were given a seed grant in September to set up and run their own businesses and have been working hard over the last few months to prepare their products for the Craft Fair. Young people will travel from Sligo, Laois, Donegal, Cork and Dublin to attend and gain valuable selling experience. Products are varied and include custom made candles, accessorised flower pots, bespoke jewellery, wooden games and toys, glass ornaments and plenty of baked treats.
NFTE is a cutting edge, world recognised youth entrepreneurship programme run by Foróige, the National Youth Development Organisation. NFTE is committed to changing the lives of young people in low-income communities by enabling them to develop core skills in business and enterprise. NFTE teaches young people to think like entrepreneurs; to take risks, to be open to learning and to be empowered to own their futures. Along with setting up and running their own business, each participant must complete and present a business plan to a panel of judges in April as part of NFTE's Youth Entrepreneurship Competition.
This year, NFTE will reach almost 1,300 young people in schools and youth centres throughout Ireland including Belfast, Dublin, Limerick, Tipperary, Galway, Cork, Sligo, Mayo, Leitrim, Laois, Wicklow, and Donegal.