Dragons' Den experience - for kids

Nov 23 2010 by Vicky Farncombe, Birmingham Mail

THE den was a psychedelic brown and yellow bus instead of the familiar shabby-chic warehouse.

And the dragons were a few millions short of the fortunes enjoyed by Duncan Bannatyne, Peter Jones and Theo Paphitis.

But, to enterprising youngsters, the ordeal of pitching their ideas was as great as that of any of the contestants on the hit BBC2 show Dragons’ Den.

And for those who impressed the panel of judges, there was real money available in the form of grants of up to £2,000 from Live UnLtd, a lottery-funded scheme aimed at supporting young people aged 11 to 21 get community projects off the ground.

The mobile Dragons’ Den toured the UK as part of Global Entrepreneurship Week – and stopped off at the Festival of Learning at the Royal Air Force Museum at Cosford.

Despite having no cash or business acumen, I’ve always fancied myself as a mini Deborah Meaden so was delighted to be asked to be one of the dragons.

I was joined on the panel by PricewaterhouseCooper’s commercial assurance director Jasbir Khela, former grant winner Jonathan Hunter, of Walsall, and development manager Shamiela Ahmed, from Live UnLtd.

Jonathan, aged 20, is one of the charity’s success stories.

He used his £2,000 to fund First Kicks, a series of football coaching classes for children aged three to six in needy areas of Birmingham. The project was warmly welcomed in schools in Sandwell, Birmingham and Walsall – to such an extent that Jonathan has won another £10,000 to help it grow.

“My mum is a foster carer so I grew up around disadvantaged children,” he said.