Isma Yacoub, a member of this year’s UpRising cohort has written a guests blog post about their exciting event in May:
Off the High Street are a team of volunteers formed through the UpRising Leadership Programme. As a group of young people, we have lived all/majority of our lives in Bedford and we’d love for more young people to get involved in the ongoing revitalisation of our town centre!
That’s why we’ve decided to provide a platform for young crafters, makers and designers aged between 18-26, to sell their unique products and take part in Bedford’s historic market tradition during Love Your Local Market week on Saturday 30th May.
The aim of the project is not only to bring younger people into Bedford, but to also provide young traders with the confidence, skills and ability to trade locally in a market environment whilst also networking with other local traders.
It has been a challenging, yet equally rewarding process as we put this event together. We have some exceptional talent who will be showcasing their products on the day. Rita Romano is a well-known handmade jeweller in Bedford. She’s expressed how she’s looking forward to the event, as it’ll give her “the opportunity to interact with members of the public… To be able to meet people face to face is a refreshing change as opposed to doing everything over the internet; it’s much more personal that way and I have always preferred it. For the buyer to actually meet the maker too and be able to talk to them is rare, so this is why I love taking part in events such as this.”
Our event has had great support from locals in Bedford. Bedford Mayor Dave Hodgson has said the event is ‘a fantastic opportunity for local, creative and entrepreneurial young people, offering them a unique platform. Such an opportunity does not come along often in any town’.
With the help of Love Your Local Market week, we hope the day will bring a unique twist to the town. The day will also be a chance to celebrate individual talent and community spirit.
We look forward to seeing everyone there to support the young people of Bedford on 30th May 2015.
If you’d like to get involved (or know of anyone who may be interested in selling), please contact us on offthehighstreetbedford@gmail.com.
