We must defeat this culture of low aspiration

Rod Aldridge
Chairman of The Aldridge Foundation

At a time when the global economy remains precarious, and the UK Government has embarked on the most radical pruning of the public purse in more than a decade, the need for entrepreneurial thinking in our communities has never been greater, not least among our young people.

There are 14 million young people aged between 14 and 30 in the UK today. With the worrying growth of unemployment, at least one in five – 2.8 million – will struggle to realise their potential as active and engaged citizens.

It is, therefore, vital that we challenge the culture of low aspiration and welfare dependency.

We need to encourage innovation, nurture creativity, and challenge the status quo.

These are all the traits of entrepreneurs, the people who will drive forward the recovery in coming years. We need to inspire young people so that instead of waiting for the jobs to come to them, they go out and create the jobs – for themselves at first, and then for others in their communities.

Success breeds success so we want that to inspire others to do the same.

Last week, I opened Darwen Creates, a new entrepreneurial centre based in my foundation’s academy in Darwen, Lancashire. This centre not only provides practical business support and helps encourage people to set up on their own, it also provides them with the physical tools to do it. The centre has 11 business pods, where individuals can start a business and build it up in one pod, alongside others doing the same in the pod next door, all learning from each other.

This is set right in the heart of a close-knit community which has 10% unemployment, with very limited public transport options, and which has too often missed out on investment in the past. If we can get 11 businesses starting up in our pods, then we can inspire another 11 to be set up, and another 11 after that. This ripple effect will influence the lives of many families in the community, and begin the regeneration that is necessary

These are the sorts of initiatives we need to see across the country, helping tomorrow’s entrepreneurs to create tomorrow’s jobs.