From school books to business – two young Southern Housing Group residents have attracted corporate sponsorship with their first entrepreneurial venture.
Kidbrooke Village residents Joshua Buchanan, 9, and Jamie Cartwright, 10, have formed KidzZone, a local community newsletter and website aimed at children and young people.
It combines fun activities including crosswords, colouring competitions and jokes with local estate news and interesting trivia.
The first hard copy edition, a 2 sided A4 colour insert, was printed in September but a £1000 grant from Berkeley Homes will enable the newsletter to be produced quarterly and distributed around Kidbrooke Village throughout next year.
John Anderson, Chairman of Berkeley Homes (Urban Renaissance), said: "Joshua and Jamie have demonstrated a genuine passion and commitment for Kidbrooke Village, and we're proud to support their venture which will provide a valuable service to other young people in the area, and hopefully help generate the journalists, photographers and designers of tomorrow. They obviously have a very bright future ahead of them and we wish them the best of luck."
In addition to the funding, the pair will undergo a free training session with a Berkeley Homes photographer who will provide them with tips and photos for their next edition.
A £75 grant from Southern Housing Group and ASRA Housing Association allowed the pair to launch the KidzZone website late last month, which already has 13 pages including an editor’s blog and dedicated teen section.
Southern Housing Group Senior Community Regeneration Officer, James Rogers, said he was impressed at the determination and drive shown by the young entrepreneurs.
“The work Joshua and Jamie have done in securing funding and getting the project off the ground is to be commended. It is encouraging to see how committed they are to providing a free newsletter which will be of interest and relevance to their peers living in and around Kidbrooke Village.”
The pair also contacted, and are awaiting feedback from businesses they approached, requesting grant funding in return for online advertising space. Funds for the project are being held by local community group, Kidbrooke Focus.
Joshua got the inspiration for KidzZone after photos he took during a visit to Kew Gardens in summer were used in Greenwich Council’s Kidbrooke Vision newsletter.
“Joshua was so enthused by the thought of his photographs being used that it led to him wanting to produce his own newsletter specifically aimed at the younger residents of Kidbrooke Village,” said his mum Ann Buchanan.
Joshua approached his friend Jamie for assistance and KidzZone was born.
Joshua is responsible for the overall production of the newsletter and website while Jamie is the Fun Stuff editor.
“I wanted to form KidzZone because there weren’t any newsletters that were made by kids for kids,” said Joshua. Jamie added: “I like doing something for the children in the community, plus it has given Josh and me good business experience.”
Jamie’s mother, Tanya Cartwright, said the project had gathered major momentum within a short time frame.
“Over a period of a few weeks it has really taken off. It started with a newsletter which was quickly followed by a website which they regularly update. Having two online editions in the space of a month shows the level of commitment both boys have to this project.”
Joshua and Jamie will visit Southern Housing Group’s head office in February to do a presentation on KidzZone to Chief Executive Tom Dacey and other staff.
KidzZone can be viewed online at http://www.wix.com/zonekidz38/kidz-zone-news.