Case Study - Helen Bradshaw

Unemployed people amazing themselves..

Helen Bradshaw had been twice bitten by redundancy and had been out of work for about 1 year before hearing from her neighbour about the AmazeYourself programme at the University of Bradford in February 2007. Once on the programme she started learning the basics of setting up a business, marketing and dealing with tax. Helen was focusing on events management as her main business idea. She explained "doing the course really inspired me, they brought in some great people to talk to us about what is happening in Bradford, how it is developing and how it would be positive to be in business in Bradford. I met some great people such as businesswoman Saeeda Ahmed who became my mentor".

Helen’s luck changed when a former ASDA colleague gave her her first self employed assignment helping to organise her wedding, and before long she was encouraged to put in a bid to arrange ASDA’s Christmas Party - which she won! She launched her events management company Metropolis Events early this year and hasn’t looked back. "I’ve got my confidence back and I feel I have some value, I have purpose and reason to get up on a morning. It has been life changing and I would say to anybody to go on this course and look at the opportunities out there".

Case Study - Jamie Barnett

Jamie Barnett (22, Bradford) has experienced a major transformation over the course of the programme and has subsequently taken great steps towards turning his business idea into reality. Jamie decided he wanted to turn his skills in landscape gardening and design into a profit making business.

Jamie felt the AmazeYourself@Bradford programme covered everything he wanted to know, from interesting business visits and guest speakers to the interactive and informative training sessions. Jamie found the approach used very inclusive and flexible, meeting everyone’s needs in a variety of different ways. Furthermore, he thought the programme allowed individuals to explore and develop their business idea in a supportive environment.

The programme has inspired Jamie to become more confident and decisive, illustrated by him developing and printing his own marketing material for his business 'Evergreen Gardens and Design'. With the groups support and input he has identified gaps in the market and has utilised the resources available to him.

As a result, Jamie has gone from garden maintenance work to design and build jobs over a very short space of time. Jamie described the programme as “fun” and claimed that he has come on "leaps and bounds over the course of the programme".