Watch out Richard Branson, there are some young entrepreneurs from North Farnham on your tail.

A handful of youngsters aged 11 to 14 from Hale recently took part in a Youth Entrepreneur Challenge. Their impressive results were shown during an Arts and Craft Sunday event at Hale Community Centre on August 3.

Each of the five was given £30 and the time and space to research and develop a business idea, working with youth leaders at the centre.

Several of them decided on crafted gifts and developed appropriate skills, selling the results on the Sunday.

There were resin gifts from Evie, felted crafts from Chloe and wax melts from Mollie. Ivy sold sweets in decorative cones and Stanley sourced soft toys from charity shops and donations and ran a soft toy tombola.

The challenge was run by youth worker Aspen Salisbury, herself an entrepreneur who set up By Aspen Crafts which trades on Etsy.

She said: “We wanted to give them the opportunity to start their own small business and learn skills like budgeting but they also gained indirect skills such as accounting, communication and interacting with the general public.

“They have grown in confidence and seen what they can do. They are often told that they can’t do things and there are barriers in the way for them such as money and time.”

The young entrepreneurs got to keep any money they made and competed to see who made the biggest profit. They have also been encouraged to continue with their enterprises and Evie is now considering opening an Etsy shop to sell her wares.

However, it wasn’t just making a profit which appealed to them. Mollie said: “I enjoyed the whole thing – making it and chatting to people when I sold things. I especially liked selling them!”